FAFSA Data

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the key to unlocking college financial aid from federal, state (see Go Higher), and local sources. If a student is ineligible to qualify for federal aid, they may still be eligible for aid through the Massachusetts Application for State Financial Aid (MASFA) , which can help students attend public institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Applying for financial aid helps keep college an option for the fall but does not commit a student to enroll.

To encourage FAFSA completion, the Department offers tools to track FAFSA completion throughout the school year. One are reports that exist in Edwin, DESE's secure system for schools and districts to access student, school and district level data. The other is a publicly facing dashboard updated twice monthly when data is available that is open to the public.

FAFSA Completion Summary and Detail Reports (CR307 and CR607) in Edwin

Key take aways:

• Limited to school and district staff with access to Edwin
• Aggregate report and student level data to support targeted follow-up
• Near real-time data for current student FAFSA status

Who is it for?

School and district staff with access to Edwin data.

What is it used for? What does it include?

Allows school and district staff to see their students FAFSA completion data at the aggregate and student level in near real-time to support targeted outreach and monitoring. Data can be viewed in html reports or downloaded into excel/csv files for further exploration.

What students are included?

Currently enrolled 12^th and SP students. Users can filter to just include grade 12 or SP. The number of students included changes throughout the school year to reflect current student enrollment.

What are the sources of the data?

FAFSA data is from the US Department of Education via the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education matched to data submitted by districts.

How do I find it?

In Edwin, via the Security Portal. Access to Edwin is determined on the school and district level by a directory administrator. District and/or School "Administrator Role", which allows for access to student level data, is necessary to view FAFSA Completion Report Detail and most helpful to fully use both reports. View this Getting Access guide for more help with Edwin

How often is it updated?

Multiple times a week, in near real-time with less than a week lag. Users can only view current FAFSA completion information for currently enrolled students.

FAFSA Dashboard:

Key Take aways:

• Publicly available
• Aggregate data only; suppressed for small student groups.
• Includes charts and visuals to enable easy comparison of completion rates across student groups and among schools and monitor progress (year-to-date charts, biggest mover tab)

Who is it for?

Those in the public interested in tracking and increasing students attending postsecondary including community partners, families, and policymakers.

What is it used for? What does it include?

Allow users to understand FAFSA completion rates for current year's 12^th graders to support efforts to increase FAFSA completion, particularly for student groups with traditionally low college enrollment. Dashboard has various tabs of data and charts, allowing for easy comparisons across schools/districts/state and various student groups.

What students are included?

12^th graders who were enrolled as of October 1, 2025. The number of grade 12 students included will remain constant. Data is suppressed when 6 or fewer students are in a group.

What are the sources of data?

FAFSA data is from the US Department of Education via the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education matched to data submitted by districts.

How do I find it?

On the DESE website

How often is it updated?

Twice a month. Charts and filters allow users to easily track changes in FAFSA completion throughout school year.

Last Updated: January 20, 2026