College and Career counselor Andrea Fuhrer heard that the participation for the first financial aid night would be low due to overlapping events at Hagerty. Still, 85 parents and students showed up Tuesday night in the media center for the event.
“We were a little concerned with the conflict with powderpuff, but I think it was really good,” Fuhrer said. “I’m really glad that we had a lot of parents, glad we had a lot of students. It showed us [people] are interested in these events.”
As part of the new College and Career center efforts, the first financial aid night took place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and TRIO Connections, a federally funded outreach program, hosted the event. TRIO is designed to support and assist students during the college enrollment journey and their services are completely free.
“Our biggest goal is to educate the community that they can go into a career, a technical job, a trade, a college or university and get an education debt-free,” TRIO speaker Melissa Rosa-Alvarez said. “There are scholarships and grants that are out there, and TRIO is here to help [students] overcome those barriers and walk along them so that they can obtain their degree.”
Rosa-Alvarez introduced some changes and misconceptions about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The main confusion amongst students is how to complete the FAFSA application. Students should complete the FAFSA ID prior to the FAFSA application. In the past, students only needed to complete the ID and right away they would be allowed to enter the portal for the FAFSA application when it was available, however, there was a big change. Now, students must wait one to three days as the FAFSA ID gets verified.
While the FAFSA is the most common form of financial aid, Rosa-Alvarez suggested students and parents look at other options like scholarships, work studies and grants. After Rosa-Alvarez finished, counselor Pamela Boodram talked about Florida Academic Scholarship, notably known as Bright Futures. During the last 30 minutes, Rosa-Alvarez stressed the importance of asking questions. TRIO connection for central Florida is located at Seminole State College Sanford and Lake Mary campus or can be contacted by email at [email protected].
“Be prepared. Ask questions if you don’t know. If you don’t feel comfortable, call someone from TRIO, because we will support you,” Rosa-Alvarez said. “When you have someone like us that will come with you and will ask the questions, it gives you a different perspective of how you can go to school for free. And that’s the goal. We don’t want a financial barrier to be the reason someone doesn’t finish their degree.”
TRIO Connections will host two other financial aid events at Hagerty, a FAFSA open lab on Jan. 28 from 6-7 p.m. and in-class workshops Dec. 5 and Dec. 7 where students will set up their Bright Future applications. This event will be for seniors who have an economics or government class on campus.
