College Goal Sunday helps ease angst of obtaining financial aid

Friday, Feb. 4, 2005 | 4:58 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

February 5 - 6, 2005

High school seniors squirming over that application for financial aid can find relief Feb. 13, also known as College Goal Sunday.

The University and Community College System of Nevada is sponsoring the statewide seminar the Sunday after the Super Bowl to help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and to help advise them on ways they can afford college.

"It's a tough form to fill out," Chris Chairsell, interim vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said. "... We're hoping to lower the anxiety level."

The FAFSA is a mandatory step in securing financial aid, Chairsell said. The federal government uses the application to determine a student's and their parents' expected contribution and how much money they are eligible to receive toward their education. Financial aid can come in the form of need-based grants and federally backed student loans.

Volunteers from seven of the system's institutions will be available to walk students and their parents through the forms at 10 different sites throughout the state. In the Las Vegas area, volunteers will be available starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 13 at UNLV's classroom building A, room 108, Nevada State College in Henderson, and at the Community College of Southern Nevada Cheyenne campus in the Horn Theater.

Another purpose of College Goal Sunday is to help connect students with the financial aid officers they'll be working with throughout their time in school, Chairsell said.

"It's a great outreach and it fulfills our master plan for access for all," Chairsell said.

College Goal Sunday is based on a program established by the Lumina Foundation for Education, a private foundation based in Indianapolis. It has been successfully implemented in Indiana and Arizona to help improve access to higher education, Chairsell said.

The state applied for and received a $170,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation to host College Goals for the next three years, always either right before or after the Super Bowl. President Paul Killpatrick at Great Basin College in Elko led the effort and his staff wrote the grant, Chairsell said.

Randall Cunningham, the former quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles who recently completed his degree at UNLV, did public service announcements for the program that will be airing on Channel 3, Chairsell said. EdFund and USA Funds are also helping to promote the event.

Chairsell said students should apply for a personal identification number to fill out the FAFSA application online in advance by visiting www.pin.ed.gov, but students can also fill out a paper application at the sites.

If under 23, students should bring their parents along with completed income data for both the student and parents. Students 24 and older only need their own income data.

For more information, visit the UCCSN Web site at system.nevada.edu or fafsa.ed.gov.