FAFSA FRIDAYS with helpful links!

Dear Cowboys,

     The Canyon Counseling Department has taken on a challenge introduced by The White House called The FAFSA Completion Project.  To support this new initiative we were given data to see how many of our seniors completed their FAFSA last year.  Of the 635 seniors that we had, only 346 submitted a FAFSA.  We had almost half of our students turn down the opportunity for free money!  As we continue to push students to consider post-secondary options we want to make sure they equally understand their responsibilities to apply for financial support.

     Our goal is to increase awareness and the number of FAFSA submissions for this year.  To that end, we are going to start doing announcements every Friday (FAFSA FRIDAY) on the morning announcements and on the counseling blog.  We would like to ask you to support us in our efforts.   Please make sure that you watch the announcements each Friday in February!  We will be teaching you about the FAFSA, giving tips on how to apply, and introducing the scholarship just based on FAFSA completion.

To start off, here is some general information about the FAFSA:

-The FAFSA stands for Free Application For Federal Student Aid.  Filling out the application allows students to be considered for federal money (PELL GRANT) and state money (CAL GRANT).  If students qualify, the Pell Grant can give up to $5,500 and the Cal Grant can give up to $12,000 each year.

-The FAFSA is due March 2^nd.

-Students who attend a community college, trade, or tech school should still plan to complete the FAFSA. The FAFSA is not just for kids planning to go to a four-year school.

-The FAFSA asks parents for financial information.  Parents do not need to be finished with their taxes for this year.  They can use their tax return from last year to make estimates.

-The website to apply for the FAFSA is FAFSA.GOV .   There is a fafsa.com and fafsa.net, they are scam sites that charge students to fill out their FREE application.

-Some students don’t fill out the FAFSA because they think they won’t qualify because their parents make too much.  If the family doesn’t fill out the FAFSA, some schools won’t consider them for MERIT based help.  EVERY student should fill out the FAFSA so they have every opportunity for money.

-If parents have any trouble filling out the FAFSA, there is a little “HELP” button that will answer any question for them.  There is also a 1-800 help line (1-800-4-FED-AID) and the COC financial aid office will help any Santa Clarita Family with questions.  Their numbers are: Valencia campus, 362-3215 and Canyon Country Campus, 362-3804. There are also several YOUTUBE videos to help you fill out the FAFSA.

-The FAFSA forecaster (https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/f4cForm?execution=e1s1) allows parents to see how much aid they might qualify for.  This is a great link for all grade levels!

-The FAFSA is for our seniors.  Underclassman need to wait until after January of their senior year to apply.

If you have any questions, please stop by the counseling office!