Colorados FAFSA Completion Project Dr. Beth Bean Chief Research Officer , CO Dept of Higher Ed Ryan Allred Director of Information Systems, CO Dept of Higher Ed Maggie Yang Data Systems Engineer & Web Developer, CO Dept of Higher Ed Misti Ruthven Director, Postsecondary Readiness, CO Dept of Education Stefan Richarz, MA Data Analyst, Denver Scholarship Foundation Todays Goal
Share what Colorado has learned in the past four years of FAFSA Completion Project implementation to boost and accelerate your states efforts. 2 Outline for Todays Discussion
4 Colorado Landscape What is FAFSA Completion Project? Why implement? Colorados Goals for Project Best/Promising Practices Data & Agreements
State FAFSA Portal Report Options Timeline How can Colorado help your state? Postsecondary Workforce Readiness Definition The knowledge, skills, and behaviors essential to high school graduates to be prepared to enter college and the workforce and compete in the global economy including content knowledge, learning and behavior skills Source: State Board of Education and the Commission on Higher Educations joint adoption on June 30,
2009 of the description of Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness. 5 Landscape By 2020 74% of all jobs in Colorado (3 million jobs) will require education beyond high school 26% will require a high school diploma or less 32% will require some college, an associates degree or certificate 29% will require a bachelors degree 12% will require a masters degree or better Between 2010 and 2020, new jobs in Colorado requiring a postsecondary education and training will grow by 716,000,
while jobs for high school graduates will grow by 268,000. Source: Georgetown University, Job Growth and Education Requirements, 2013 WHY FAFSA Project? H&R BLOCK 90% 8 FAFSA Completion for Colorado All Students
600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2011 FAFSA Completion Pro ject Began Source: IFAP Application Volume Promising Practices 10 FAFSA Project Purpose
Provide districts and schools with FAFSA completion information to assist in guiding intentional, individualized conversations with student and their families. Leverage as primary indicator of enrollment in education beyond high school Increase the number of students who enter and complete a degree or credential Maximize resources by connecting school counselors, students, and families through FAFSA Provide state leadership for FAFSA completion to assist local-level efforts
Project Outcomes/Practices Increase enrollment in postsecondary education and degree/credential completion Ensure students maximize Federal financial aid resources, such as Pell Connect summer melt resources Replicate studies with Colorado data Resources for high-need populations and wrap-around services
for homeless, foster, and other independent student populations Systemic change lever to utilize data to maximize resources for students FAFSA Completion Project Goals Create simple tool for Colorado district and schools to identify students who needs assistance in accessing higher education
13 Plug-and-play tool No need for additional software or technology Maximized time for current personnel Minimal training of users Accurately match students with schools/districts (4% error rate)
Help FAFSA be fun and simple remove the fear Emphasize importance of FAFSA as indicator to higher education Align FAFSA and higher ed matriculation data points Unique identifier (mountain goat) History of progress year-over-year Complex Data Simplified Data agreements for student-level info Access levels with authentication Attorney General thumbs-up Copy of Agreement Push system to districts 14
Funding the portal Building the portal (6-month project) State general funds CACG Sustained through general funds
15 Data (4 hours per week) District support (4 hours per week) Partnership to coordinate with districts (DHE & CDE) Connecting state & federal resources FAFSA Completion Portal Elegant, Efficient Simplicity 16 Current Colorado Process Flow
Users Internet Website Application Aggregated Summaries Excel Student Level
Download Current Colorado System Architecture Users Internet DMZ Application Database Server Application Web Server
ISIR SysAdmin Internal Source Database Server Current Colorado Application Architecture Users
Internet DMZ DOT NET NUKE MS SQL ISIR SysAdmin Internal MS SQL
MS IS Home Page http://highered.colorado.gov/fafsa/ 20 Aggregate Data by High Schools 21 Log-in Page 22
District-level Student Data 23 Student-level Data Report 24 Download Option 25 Student-level Report
26 FAFSA Report Legend Status Options for student level FAFSA completion report NS no signature (student or parent) E Error (Incorrect completion of FAFSA as determined by 27 U.S. Dept. of Ed)
Y Complete How can Colorado help your state implement a FAFSA portal? 28 One-time Users Internet DMZ DOT NET
NUKE MS SQL ISIR SysAdmin MS SQL MS IS Internal MS SQL MS IS
Save development time Self installation Self supported Setup costs On-going Option 1 ISIR Data Delivery Users
Internet DMZ Application Database Server Application Web Server ISIR SysAdmin
Internal Source Database Server SaaS Model No Development
Annual Subscription Hosted by CDHE Supported by CDHE User Access Control controlled by States Data delivery via website (.xlsx) On-going Option 2 ISIR Data Delivery + State School or Student Data
Users Internet State customizations may include student lists or school demographics DMZ Application Database Server
Application Web Server ISIR Data transformation (ETL) for customized output SysAdmin Internal
Source Database Server Implementation Timeline Agreements Spring 2014 Outline participation and specific expectations Planning
Summer 2014 Draft Portal Fall 2014 local guidelines Begin Implementation Adopt th and 9 graders may use for States guideposts Implementation Winter 2014
FAFSA Portal Winter 2015 Training and FAFSA Season begins partnership for districts January 2015 Next Steps 1. Complete Survey https:// www.surveymonkey.com/s/PQ93HC2 2. Follow-up webinar or call for discussion with
interested states 3. Complete agreement with Colorado 33 Thank You 34 Questions Program Contacts: Beth Bean, Chief Research Officer , CO Dept of Higher Ed, [email protected] , 303-866-2661
Misti Ruthven, Director, Postsecondary Readiness, CO Dept of Ed, [email protected], 303-866-6206 35
