Senate Bill 147 was signed into law in November 2021. This legislation amended RSA 193 to add the following:
Requiring students in NH high schools to file the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) as a prerequisite for graduation
Students who do not wish to file the FAFSA may file a waiver with the district
Requiring districts that contain a high school to provide assistance to their high school students and, if applicable, those students' families, to meet these prerequisites
Requiring districts to report the number and percentage of graduating high school students who received district-provided assistance completing the FAFSA
These amendments take effect starting in the 2023-2024 school year.
At this time, NHED will not be collecting data on the FAFSA as it determines the best course of action for data collection on this component. When a viable method of data collection has been identified, NHED will inform the districts of that method.
The current absence of data reporting related to these data elements does not absolve the districts from complying with relevant aspects of the RSA.