Completing the FAFSA for college aid

It will soon be time for college-bound students and their parents to fill out the FAFSA. The Free Application For Federal Student Aid is where every family who receives federal and state aid must begin. Once a family fills out the forms, the federal government does an analysis and establishes an Estimated Family Contribution or EFC. The EFC is the number that college financial aid offices use to determine what kind of aid students are eligible for and can receive.

The FAFSA forms will be available online January 1. To receive financial aid, this form needs to be completed each year a student attends college. It is important that you meet the deadlines for the colleges that a student is applying to or attends. The earlier the FAFSA is complete, the better chances a student may have at securing different kinds of financial aid. The FAFSA form itself can be accessed at: www.fafsa.ed.gov

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR JUNIORS
Beginning next year, the FAFSA will be available on October 1. Instead of using income information from the prior year, the FAFSA will use income information from the prior-prior year. For example, for the 2017-2018 school year, the FAFSA will require income information from 2015.

It is strongly recommended that parents of 11th and 12th grade students attend the Financial Aid Night at CPCS in January. More details to follow!

Useful tips for reporting parent info on the FAFSA.

Gearing Up for College

It's that time again. Time for seniors to begin the college application process. It can be daunting, but there are so many resources available to help along the way. I'll list just a few here...

For finding schools that match what you are looking for, check out Big Future on the College Board site, or the new site launched by the White House, the College Scorecard

CPCS offers many local scholarships, which will be available during the second half of the year. There are also many state and national scholarships that students can apply for. Check out the Tuition Funding site from Wells Fargo to learn of new scholarship opportunities.

For more information on the College Application process, come to College Information Night, Sept 24, 6:30-8:00pm in the CPCS library. Drop in anytime.

As always, stop in, call or email the Guidance Office for assistance at any step along the way of this exciting journey.