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Financial aid filing help

The Community Foundation of Greater Lafayette is helping college bound students apply for financial aid. It’s sponsoring a workshop at the four public high schools to assist families in filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Cheryl Ubelhor, program director at the foundation, says during last year’s event at other Indiana sites, students became eligible for more than $5 million in state and federal grants.

“One of the barriers students have in getting to college and completing college is financial aid and assistance,” she says. “A lot of times they have trouble filling out the FAFSA and if they don’t have that filled out, they’re ineligible for all kinds of money that can help them go to school.”

She says volunteers are needed to help with the FAFSA events, which requires a brief training session that’s available online.

The National Center for College Costs is organizing the events. As the Center's president, Dave Murray knows filling out the paperwork can be tricky. He says after staff and volunteers help with the process, a student will know how much grant money is available for them to attend a specific university, and what their family’s share would be.

“The idea is to help them through the process and immediately interpret the results,” he says. “There are some families who do this on their own, but they come into the lab that day to get our interpretation.”

Murray says based on the student’s college choices, the data will tell them and their families how much money in needs-based financial aid is available to them, and how much they or their family will have to pay.

For the filing process, students and families will need to have certain tax information. You can find a list of items HERE.

Each FAFSA Day in Tippecanoe County will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.:

  • Monday, February 4                       McCutcheon High School
  • Monday, February 11                     Jefferson High School
  • Tuesday, February 12                    West Lafayette High School
  • Thursday, February 28                  Harrison High School

If you’d like to volunteer, you may contact Cheryl Ubelhor at (765) 742-9078 ext. 225. Or email her at Cheryl@cfglaf.org for more information.

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