In advance of this week’s National Spelling Bee finals, Google released data on the word that people located in each state searched “how to spell” on a regular basis. (Kudos to South Dakota for being so interested in how to spell “college!”) I used the Google Trends tool to search for how often people in each state searched for information on the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) over the last five years and one year, as well as how often they searched for the “FASFA”—a pronunciation that is like fingernails on the chalkboard for many folks in higher education.
Between 2012 and 2016, interest in both the FAFSA (in blue) and the FASFA (in red) followed a pretty typical pattern, as shown in the first graph below. Searches picked up in frequency on January 1 (the first day to file for the new application year) before peaking around March 1 (when many state aid deadlines occur) and falling off dramatically in September. But in the 2016-17 application cycle (the second graph), searches spiked near October 1 (the new first date for filing the FAFSA) with a smaller peak around January 1 and an equal peak around March 1. This shows how the early FAFSA changes did reach students and their families.
Note: The “FAFSA” is in blue and the “FASFA” is in red.
I also looked at search intensity by state over the last year, with the most intense state receiving a value of 100. Mississippi had the highest intensity of FAFSA searches, while Oregon’s value of 42 was less than half of Mississippi’s value. Louisiana and Arkansas tied for the highest FASFA value (30), while Minnesota (7) had the lowest value. Looking at FAFSA-to-FASFA search ratios (a proxy for how commonly people searched for the wrong term), Louisiana had the lowest ratio of 3.07—indicating the highest frequency of incorrect searches. Meanwhile, Minnesotans were the least likely to type “FASFA” relative to “FAFSA,” with a ratio of 10.
FAFSA and FASFA search intensity, May 31, 2016 to May 31, 2017.
| State | FAFSA | FASFA | Ratio |
| Mississippi | 100 | 28 | 3.57 |
| Arkansas | 95 | 30 | 3.17 |
| Oklahoma | 93 | 25 | 3.72 |
| Louisiana | 92 | 30 | 3.07 |
| New Mexico | 89 | 26 | 3.42 |
| West Virginia | 88 | 23 | 3.83 |
| Idaho | 87 | 18 | 4.83 |
| Kentucky | 87 | 23 | 3.78 |
| Alabama | 84 | 22 | 3.82 |
| Tennessee | 82 | 20 | 4.10 |
| Indiana | 80 | 22 | 3.64 |
| Vermont | 79 | 13 | 6.08 |
| Maryland | 79 | 18 | 4.39 |
| Hawaii | 78 | 9 | 8.67 |
| South Dakota | 78 | 14 | 5.57 |
| Alaska | 77 | 15 | 5.13 |
| California | 77 | 14 | 5.50 |
| Wyoming | 77 | 23 | 3.35 |
| Utah | 77 | 15 | 5.13 |
| Montana | 77 | 11 | 7.00 |
| Arizona | 76 | 18 | 4.22 |
| Delaware | 75 | 25 | 3.00 |
| Rhode Island | 74 | 18 | 4.11 |
| Iowa | 74 | 18 | 4.11 |
| North Dakota | 74 | 9 | 8.22 |
| South Carolina | 73 | 19 | 3.84 |
| North Carolina | 72 | 18 | 4.00 |
| Virginia | 72 | 15 | 4.80 |
| Connecticut | 72 | 16 | 4.50 |
| Florida | 72 | 18 | 4.00 |
| Nebraska | 72 | 13 | 5.54 |
| Ohio | 71 | 18 | 3.94 |
| Missouri | 71 | 20 | 3.55 |
| Nevada | 71 | 16 | 4.44 |
| New Jersey | 71 | 15 | 4.73 |
| Maine | 71 | 17 | 4.18 |
| Pennsylvania | 70 | 17 | 4.12 |
| Minnesota | 70 | 7 | 10.00 |
| New Hampshire | 68 | 15 | 4.53 |
| Michigan | 67 | 17 | 3.94 |
| Washington | 66 | 12 | 5.50 |
| New York | 66 | 15 | 4.40 |
| Wisconsin | 66 | 10 | 6.60 |
| Georgia | 65 | 18 | 3.61 |
| Illinois | 63 | 13 | 4.85 |
| Massachusetts | 60 | 12 | 5.00 |
| Colorado | 60 | 15 | 4.00 |
| Texas | 56 | 14 | 4.00 |
| Kansas | 54 | 14 | 3.86 |
| District of Columbia | 45 | 11 | 4.09 |
| Oregon | 42 | 8 | 5.25 |
Source: Google
Google search data can have the potential to provide some interesting insights about public perceptions and awareness of higher education, yet they have been used relatively infrequently. If there are any terms you would like me to dig into, let me know in the comments section!
[Cross-posted at Kelchen on Education]
