Your future, our focus
P O W E L L, W y o. - For many college-bound students and their parents, the hardest thing about getting ready for college is filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) required by most colleges and universities to apply for all types of financial aid and scholarships.
Northwest College will lend a hand again this year to Big Horn Basin residents by offering free help on Sunday, Feb. 8, for all college-bound students, regardless of which college they plan to attend.
NWC is giving away scholarships, prizes and lots of college-related assistance from 1-4 p.m. during College Goal Sunday in the Mathematics and Science Building on campus. Drawings for scholarships and door prizes will be available to attending students. Students must be present to win.
Robert Hill, Gear UP coordinator at NWC, invites all Big Horn Basin college-bound students and their parents to attend.
"We'll have volunteers working to assist participants in completing the FAFSA online," Hill said. "It can be an intimidating process to get through, but we're trying to make it as painless as possible. We'll have plenty of food on hand and will give out four $500 and four $250 Northwest College scholarships and eight $250 scholarships to any college."
In addition to FAFSA assistance, College Goal Sunday at Northwest will also provide information to students on applying for scholarships and other financial aid programs.
Parents and students should bring with them their estimated or completed 2008 tax returns, W-2 forms and other pertinent 2008 income and benefits information. If parents can't attend, students still need to bring the information listed above.
Participants who have Internet access are strongly encouraged to get a personal identification number (PIN) as soon as possible at http://www.pin.ed.gov/ so they can bring it to the session. Parents and students each need separate PINs (electronic signatures used when completing the FAFSA online). The PINs also allow Internet access to a multitude of other college-related financial aid information.
College Goal Sunday 2009 at Northwest College is part of a statewide event made possible partially by a grant from the Lumina Foundation in association with USA Funds.
For more information about College Goal Sunday, e-mail Robert Hill or call (307) 754-7822 or toll free (800) 560-4692, ext. 7822.