FAFSA workshop this Sunday at WMU

By Josh Holderbaum

Western Herald

Incoming students struggling with their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can get help on Valentine’s Day.

Western Michigan University will host College Goal Sunday, a free event for students and families who need help filling out their FAFSA, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Schneider Hall Business Court.

The event, held simultaneously at over 20 sites in Michigan, will give next fall’s college attendees a head start on their FAFSA, due March 1.

“A lot of people just have a lot of anxiety about the FAFSA,” said Mark Delorey, director of Student Financial Aid at WMU.

“If they read the instructions carefully, they could do it pretty well. College Goal Sunday just provides them the comfort to complete it without any mistakes. We’re here to hold their hands and get them through their first year.”

Financial aid counselors from WMU, Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo Valley Community College and other schools around the area will be on hand to meet with students and parents about the FAFSA, which has gotten easier to complete in past years, according to Delorey.

“The FAFSA is much neater now,” Delorey said. “It’s 67 percent shorter than last time. It’s greatly simplified, a lot easier than it was years ago.”

Still, the FAFSA requires tax information that needs to be brought to the event. For a list of what to bring, visit www.micollegegoal.org.

While fliers and posters for the event read “Feb. 13 and 14,” the site at WMU will only be open on Sunday, Delorey said.

Only two sites, in Detroit and at Delta College in Saginaw, Mich., will be open Feb. 13.

Delorey expects around 500 attendees on Sunday, depending on the weather.

“Two years ago, the weather for College Goal Sunday was typical Michigan — zero degrees, snowing and windy,” Delorey said. “We said we’d go ahead and have it, and people came out in record numbers. Last year’s was 65 degrees and sunny, in February, and we still had record numbers. So I’m assuming the weather will be between zero and 65 degrees.”

Anyone who doesn’t make it to College Goal Sunday can stop by the Financial Aid office in the Faunce Student Services anytime if they need help.

“We can help anybody in our office, we have computers where we can sit them down and help them fill it out,” Delorey said.

“A lot of people don’t want to come into the office to get help, but if they go to College Goal Sunday, they see their neighbors there, their friends there. It’s the place to be.”

For more information, along with information on what to bring to the event, visit www.micollegegoal.com.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=14756

Posted by heraldstaff on Feb 10 2010. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

http://HeraldStaff