Murphy – Anyone in the area needing to fill out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – in preparation for college – will have an opportunity to get help doing so Saturday, at a Tri-County completion day held by advisors from the Appalachian College Advising Corps.
The event will be held at Murphy High School, with students and families being able to sign up for an hour-long slot, to receive one-on-one help filling out the FAFSA. The event will focus on helping students and future students from Graham, Cherokee and Clay counties.
Setting up an appointment is highly encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome.
“It’s just a community event,” said Robbinsville High School college and career advisor Sarah Caudill. “We’re trying to up our FAFSA numbers and give back to our communities.” She said the completion day was set up to give students an option to get their FAFSA filled out when they might not have time during the week.
Phoebe Thompson – college and career advisor at Andrews High School and Hiwassee Dam High School – said the event would not only seek to serve current high school students, but those in other situations.
“We’re opening it not just to our own high school seniors, but to anyone going to college in the fall,” Thompson said.
Thompson also said she hoped the event would continue to improve on the already-good FAFSA numbers in western North Carolina.
She said the schools she served both had some of the states highest FAFSA completion rates, but that she hoped to see it increase even further.
“I saw that it was making a difference, and I wasn’t expecting it,” Thompson said. “I was trying to get our area of the state up with the big dogs.”
She further explained the importance of the FAFSA, saying that it was essentially free money for higher education. She also said that having help filling out the FAFSA could open doors for some.
“Ultimately, higher ed is built for people who know education already, so it’s the difference for those people to figure these things out,” Thompson said.
Caudill said that although she had already caught up with most of the Robbinsville High School seniors interested in furthering their education, she still hoped to see a handful of local students there. Both Caudill and Thompson’s positions are funded by AmeriCorps College Advising Corps through Appalachian State University in Boone. Adam Urbaniuk is the advisor at Hayesville High School.
Students who complete the FAFSA receive over $6,000 in free federal aid based on their family’s income. Nationally, 86 percent of students at four-year institutions and 78 percent of students at two-year institutions receive some sort of financial aid.
The FAFSA priority deadline is Monday.