COLLEGE PREP AFTERSCHOOL
Events that should be planned for parents:
11th grade spring (or anytime in the high school years, as many times as possible) • The financial aid process overview – demystification of the process and sending the message that college can be affordable for all. 12th grade fall/winter • Mock FAFSA walk-through
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FAFSA night – where parents can receive one-on-one assistance in filling out FAFSA
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Available one-on-one meeting times with college program staff
12th grade winter/spring • Financial aid package comparison meetings
Step III: Collect everything If you collect everything in Step I on a regular basis, you’ll be ahead of the game for all of your students come FAFSA time. As students complete financial aid applications, they will have lots of small items to keep track of such as website log-on names and pins. Recording this information and keeping copies of completed forms can allow staff to be of help to students in last minute emergencies. Things to track for your students: •
Student social security number
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FAFSA PIN (Personal Identification Number) created by students and parents
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Copy of the current year W-2 and tax return or statement of non-filing/public assistance
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Paper print out of copy of completed FAFSA and the Student Aid Report (SAR)
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Copies of any institutional H/EOP application financial aid forms
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Copies of all financial aid offers for comparison
NOTE: At no point should college prep program staff assist parents with their federal or state tax preparation, or offer financial advisement beyond the appropriate completion of financial aid application documents. If your agency has a relationship with tax preparers, you may refer them there for assistance, but no staff should be involved in this process. Unless it is a regular function of your organization, it is a level of legal responsibility no program can absorb. partnership for afterschool education | www.pasesetter.org
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