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Undocumented students, for example, are not eligible for federal college aid, including Pell Grants, and are typically blocked from the FAFSA. Plus, not everyone can fill out the FAFSA. FAFSA noncompletion percentages are based on the entire high school class of 2022, thus assuming that all of these students would want to go directly to college. There are a few caveats to the report, however. A Pell Grant does not need to be repaid - it’s free money. undergraduates, and 2022 high school graduates who qualified for it received an average award of $4,686, the NCAN report found.
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The need-based Pell Grant is the largest federal grant program offered to U.S. ( NerdWallet) - High school graduates left billions of dollars in free college aid on the table by not filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, in 2022. Among the class of 2022, 44% of high school graduates skipped the FAFSA - and eligible students left behind $3.58 billion worth of Pell Grant money - per a January analysis by the National College Attainment Network, or NCAN.
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