Holly Woods, left, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Dalton State College, and Carol Jones, Director, welcome college-bound students and family to a free FAFSA workshop at Dalton State Friday, March 28.
College-bound students and their families are invited to a free FAFSA workshop at Dalton State College Friday, March 28, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and is the essential first step to applying or federal and state grants, loans, and scholarships to help pay for college, said Carol Jones, Director of Financial Aid for Dalton State.
“We don’t want the FAFSA to be an obstacle for any student who might be eligible to receive aid to attend college,” said Jones, who will have plenty of financial aid counselors and other volunteers on hand to help students.
The daylong workshop is sponsored by College Goal Georgia, part of the national College Goal Sunday initiative sponsored by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. It is a free event where volunteers help students and families who need assistance completing the FAFSA, with an emphasis on helping low-income, first-generation families. The federal government requires a FAFSA from all students seeking financial aid for college.
“GSFC and College Goal Georgia want to ensure finances and completing the FAFSA are not barriers to attending college for anyone, especially students from under-represented communities,” said Angie Newell, College Goal Georgia’s statewide coordinator. This year, students can enter to win an iPad and grocery and gas cards will be raffled off to participating families at each event.
The College Goal Sunday program was created by the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association with funding from Lilly Endowment, Inc., and supplemental support from Lumina Foundation for Education. Currently, College Goal Sunday events are being held in 40 states and the District of Columbia and are funded in part by USA Funds.
GSFC helps students achieve their educational goals by administering financial aid programs and advocating for Georgia students and other state institutions on issues related to financing higher education. GSFC administers the HOPE Scholarship and Grant programs as well as other state- and lottery-funded scholarship, grant, and service-cancelable loan programs.
The Dalton State workshop will be held in the James E. Brown Center at the north end of the campus. Participants are asked to bring 2013 tax information to expedite the application process. For more information, contact Carol Jones at cjones@daltonstate.edu or by the Financial Aid office at 706/272-4436.