Free finanical aid workshops to be held at two colleges
By From staff reports
Published in News on February 8, 2011 1:46 PM
Two free financial aid workshops will be held in Wayne County on Saturday, Feb. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon.
One will be held in the W. Burkette and Rose M. Raper Hall at Mount Olive College.
The other will be held in the Spruce Building at Wayne Community College.
The workshop will assist students and parents in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Completing the FAFSA form is a requirement to be considered for all federal and most state financial aid for college, including scholarships and grants.
The event is being sponsored by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority and the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the State Employees' Credit Union.
To attend, register online at www.cfnc.org.
For more information about the event at MOC, contact Tim Woodard in admissions at 1-800-653-0854.
To be fully prepared to complete the FAFSA on that day, participants should bring the following items to FAFSA Day:
* both the student's and parents' federal 1040 tax forms for 2010 (or W-2 forms and other income and asset documents if completed tax forms are not available)
* the student's and one parent's personal identification numbers (PINs) obtained in advance from the U.S. Department of Education website, www.pin.ed.gov
* a FAFSA on the web worksheet with as much information entered as possible. The online worksheet is available at www.fafsa.gov.
"It's important to complete the FAFSA early to take advantage of all of the financial aid opportunities available for North Carolinians," said Robbie Schultz, of the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority and CFNC coordinator of the FAFSA Day program. "Students and parents don't need to worry if they aren't sure how to answer all of the questions on the form. That's why we have arranged to have experienced financial aid specialists to help at each FAFSA Day site."
Another option for students and parents with questions on completing the FAFSA is the FAFSA Phone-In offered every Tuesday night in February. Financial aid specialists and experts will be available to answer specific FAFSA questions on the toll-free number, 866-866-CFNC (2362), between 5 and 9 p.m.
Additional free college planning information is available at the College Foundation of North Carolina website, CFNC.org. Families can find college cost estimators, listings of scholarship, grant and loan opportunities, information about North Carolina's 529 college savings plan, career information, virtual tours of more than 100 of the state's college campuses and online college admission and financial aid applications.