Does School Selection order matter on FAFSA anymore?

[GoCardinals74]

With the changes to FAFSA from this past August, do I need to worry about the order in which I submit my college choices? The changes I’m referring to can be read here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/feds-to-stop-tipping-off-colleges-on-student-choices/

Should I have any concerns in the order I input the colleges I have applied to?

If it does matter, what would be my best order? The colleges to which I have applied (in order of preference) can be found here:

1. Purdue West Lafayette (Accepted)
2. Northwestern (No Decision Yet)
3. Illinois Urbana-Champaign (No Decision Yet)
4. Minnesota Twin Cities (Accepted)
5. Oklahoma Norman (No Decision Yet, National Merit Full-Ride Probable)

[thumper1]

The schools will not see the other schools to which you submit the FAFSA anymore.

Can’t imagine why the order matters.

[4kidsdad]

No!

[OHMomof2]

No, except that I suppose you might put in-state schools that ask you to list them first, first, if there are any on your list.

[thumper1]

But there isn’t a list anymore. Colleges will receive their FAFSA submission, but won’t have a list of other schools.

So…why would,this matter?

[OHMomof2]

Because the states can still see the list. They’re the only ones who can.

[OHMomof2]

The student’s list of schools will continue to be shared with the student’s state agency but not with the colleges.

http://www.financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/tk/learn/fafsa/updates.jsp

Although colleges will no longer have access to the information, the department plans to continue to provide state grant agencies with access to students’ college preferences on the FAFSA.
Frank Ballmann, director of federal relations at the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs, said that states urged the department to continue sharing that information with them.
"We have found it’s very predictive of enrollment,” Ballmann said. State agencies have found that students tend to enroll at the first college they list on the FAFSA more than 70 percent of the time, he said.
Several states, such as Connecticut, Indiana, Massachusetts and New Jersey, set aside grant awards for students based on whether they list a participating in-state institution first on the FAFSA form, according to Ballmann. About 10 additional states use the students’ ordering of colleges on the FAFSA for planning and budgeting how many state grant awards they may need to award.
In states where the grant aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, students could miss out on aid by listing a college lower down on the FAFSA.
The FAFSA has, for at least several years, informed students that the order in which they list colleges will be seen by state grant agencies.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/14/education-department-will-stop-giving-colleges-information-about-students%E2%80%99-choices

[thumper1]

What “state agency” is the OP going to have!

I guess if there is a concern…list the instate options first.

[OHMomof2]

I guess if there is a concern…list the instate options first.

Right, that’s what I said

[menloparkmom]

If you have any concern, list them in alphabetical order

[thumper1]

@menloparkmom apparently some states want you to list their schools in the top three for state aid purposes.

Otherwise, I’m not sure this matters…at all. The colleges no longer will be seeing where else your FAFSA has been submitted.

Only “state agencies” like TAP, and Calgrant.

[OHMomof2]

The colleges no longer will be seeing where else your FAFSA has been submitted.

And high time, too. That was a real issue that just didn’t need to be.

[ucbalumnus]

Check if there are any state-based financial aid or scholarships where listing an in-state school first on the FAFSA is required or advantageous.