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Event focuses on financial aid

Max Brown
The Commuter

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

On Saturday, Jan. 30, an event will be held to give one-on-one help applying for financial aid. The event, College Goal Oregon, will be held in McKenzie Hall at LBCC’s Albany campus from
9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

College Goal Oregon is a statewide event that has multiple locations. Anyone needing to fill out a FAFSA is invited to come.

During the event, speakers will be giving information about scholarships and other opportunities. One of the speakers is from the Oregon Student Assistance Commission (OSAC) and will be presenting about their scholarship opportunities.

LBCC’s financial aid department will be on hand to help fill out forms and answer any questions. Other volunteers and some members from OSU’s financial aid department will also be attending the event for additional support. They will also have Spanish speakers on hand to help with English as a second language individuals.

“The event is put together to fill out the FAFSA and you have staff there to help you, and so you have to take advantage of that kind of thing,” said Art Mota, who volunteers each year to help with Spanish speaking individuals.

Beverly Gerig, director of LBCC financial aid and veteran’s affairs, feels that sometimes people are intimidated by FAFSA, and this gives them a place to have their questions answered while filling out the FAFSA.

“This is a great opportunity because the most money is there at the beginning, and this is in January when they need to apply,” said Christine Baker, a student outreach coordinator at LBCC.

Even if you have not completed your taxes yet, you can still get help filling out your FAFSA through this event. Gerig says that you can use estimates from the previous year’s taxes, but she only suggests this if your income has not changed significantly.

She says that it is good to file FAFSA now because it gives students an earlier filing date, which helps to get them more money. It also gives people the chance to learn about some of the scholarship options available.

Baker said that the scholarship information is really valuable. “If you don’t apply, you don’t have a chance,” she said.

Gerig says that it’s important to make sure you bring everything you need to the event, so you can finish your FAFSA. For underage students it’s important that they bring their parents, as they both have sections to fill out on the FAFSA.

“The more prepared you are, the more helpful we can be,” said Gerig.

Mota suggests people should show up early just in case they forget some important document or information. He said they can go get the information and come back before the event is over.

Last year they had around 80 people seek help during the event. They are hoping more people attend this year.

“It’s really an opportunity to help people in the community,” said Gerig.

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