@EdWorkingPaper{ai25-1130, title = "Early Impacts of the FAFSA Requirement in Texas", author = "Sie Won Kim", institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University", number = "1130", year = "2025", month = "January", URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1130", abstract = {In 2021−22, Texas implemented a policy requiring all public high school seniors to complete a financial aid application. This paper examines the early impacts of this requirement on Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates and college enrollment using a difference-in-differences model. First, using a sample of high schools in Texas, I find that the FAFSA requirement increases FAFSA completion rates in public schools by 6.3 percentage points relative to private schools. Second, using a multi-valued discrete treatment, I find positive effects on FAFSA completion rates across all treated schools, ranging from 3.1 to 7 percentage points. Furthermore, this increase in FAFSA completion rates is associated with an increase in college enrollment for schools with lower pre-treatment FAFSA completion rates.}, }