Completing the FAFSA form automatically qualifies the student for a variety of federal and state grants, work study programs, and federal student loans.
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FAFSA First! helps Hispanic students and their families by pairing them with bilingual volunteers to help them complete financial aid applications, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid program (FAFSA), as well as the New York Tuition Assistance Program (NY TAP).
The events will take place in February, and the exact times and places are available here. The goal is to provide awareness of the financial aid process, increase access to accurate and timely information regarding financial aid, as well as offer in-person events where students and families can get help to complete the FASFA.
Both workshops are free and available to anyone entering college in 2016; low-income, first-generation students are especially encouraged to attend.
The deadlines to fill out the FAFSA range from early January through March, but getting yours in first or as early as possible can boost your chances of getting more aid, since some schools dole out aid based on the date the application is received. In addition, a data analysis study performed by NerdWallet showed that in the state of Arizona 34 percent of the graduating class of 2013 did not complete the FAFSA, and left more than $75 million dollars of free federal grant money on the table. We teamed up with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators to host a #FAFSAHelp Twitter chat Wednesday.
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Benson will lead the workshop, answering questions and assisting parents and students in the online process of applying. The analysis includes all high school grads, even those who didn’t attend college, in an attempt to show that those who didn’t attend could have received federal aid.
