For countless of college students, the start of a new semester represents frustration through filling out intensive paperwork in order to receive or become eligible for financial aid, grants, loans and scholarships. On Feb. 12, the University of Tampa is going to attempt to curb that angst by hosting a “College Goal Sunday,” where students are able to get free professional help filling out their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) forms and finding other financial aid resources for upcoming semesters.
This event will be held on the first floor of the Sykes College of Business building on UT’s campus from 2-5 p.m. and is open to the public, especially parents and those seeking a post-high school education. In addition to getting professional help from financial aid experts, attendees will also have the opportunity to win a scholarship that is transferable to any college or university. College Goal Sunday is a statewide volunteer program that has been adapted into numerous universities across the U.S. and exists simply to provide college students, along with their families, with free assistance in completing the FAFSA. As many UT students already know, this form is a prerequisite for anyone trying to receive federal or state financial aid to be used towards post-secondary education.
Since the FAFSA involves many complex steps and is not difficult to make mistakes on, a student may not be awarded as much money as they are eligible for. Professionals and volunteers from this program seek to eliminate these costly mistakes and confusion.
Although this is only the second time UT’s Financial Aid Office is co-sponsoring this event, Tierra Smith, the Associate Director of Financial Aid, hopes to see more students and their families taking advantage of this local event.
“Last year,” she states, “we had about 30 people come to get help with financial aid. This year, we want to help more.”
Smith also wants the public to know that this event isn’t designed for just UT students; the assistance provided can be applied to any national university or college of the attendee’s choice.
When asked to describe the dynamics of the event, Smith replied “it’s very informal -there’s not going to be a speaker or anything like that. People can come in for as long as they want and leave whenever they want.”
The computer labs in the Sykes building are going to be open for students and their parents in order to allow them get help directly from the FAFSA website.
One student at UT, Katie Leonard, supports the idea of College Goal Sunday being adapted as an annual event on campus.
“Even though I don’t use financial aid, I think that the Financial Aid Office sponsoring this event is really positive for UT and the community.”
Dima Shemberev, another student at UT, argues, “I think federal financial aid gives everyone the opportunity to get an education, so understanding how to complete the FAFSA through College Goal Sunday is very important.”
UT’s students and faculty alike appreciate the motives behind the Financial Aid Office co-sponsoring and UT hosting College Goal Sunday for the greater Tampa Bay area and seem to be eager to attend this free, public event.
Dani Carpenter can be reached at danielle.carpenter@spartans.ut.edu.