We show empirically that 11 percent of recent US high school graduates did not apply for federal financial aid due to finding applying too difficult or mistaken beliefs. Not applying due to such frictions negatively predicts bachelor’s degree enrollment, even after controlling for other attributes. We represent these frictions as heterogeneous filing costs in a structural model of college enrollment. We find that the aggregate costs of these frictions are modest because less than of half those affected would ultimately utilize aid. However, costs are large for the affected few with high skill from poor families.