Alaska Career Guide students hit 60% FAFSA completion, 25 points above state rate

Students getting help from Alaska Career Guides filed federal financial aid applications at 60.1% in the class of 2026, up from 41.4% for the class of 2025, rootEd Alliance reported Thursday.

That rate sits 25 percentage points above Alaska's statewide FAFSA completion rate of 35.1%, as tracked by the National College Attainment Network. It also sits above the 59.1% national record the class of 2026 set, which NCAN measured through June 26. The Career Guide figure's cut-off is not stated, so the two are close rather than strictly comparable.

The application is the gateway to Pell Grants, federal aid that does not have to be repaid, and to the Alaska Education Grant and Alaska Performance Scholarship, both awarded first-come, first-served while funds last.

A 2023 Alaska Association of School Boards report found Alaska last in the nation for FAFSA completion, with Alaskans leaving an estimated $15.7 million in aid unclaimed each year. The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education reported only 33% of the class of 2022 filed.

The Career Guide initiative launched in October 2024 through the Department of Education and Early Development and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. It operates as a public-private partnership that also includes rootEd Alliance, the Bristol Bay Regional Career and Technical Education Consortium and Sealaska Heritage Institute. Districts choose the staffing model, which may be district staff, a Tribal organization or the labor department.

Eight districts took part this year, covering 20 schools and 208 seniors, and the education department has listed 18 more as potential participants for next year.

Nationally, the class of 2026 set an all-time FAFSA completion record, and Alaska led every state in the country for percentage increase, at 20.7%. New Mexico was next, at 18.8%.

The 2023 school boards report cautioned that advising alone may not close the gap, citing limited internet access, transportation and culturally disconnected messaging as barriers for rural and Indigenous families.