FAFSA Matters Missoula campaign to assist students, families with financial aid application

Each year, high school seniors and their families miss out on millions of dollars in higher education grants because they do not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) early in the year. Wednesday marks the beginning of a new college access outreach program in Missoula County Public Schools called FAFSA Matters Missoula. The initiative has been made possible by competitively awarded grant funding offered to Graduation Matters Missoula – Missoula County Public Schools through a partnership between the Student Assistance Foundation of Montana and Graduation Matters Montana.

The goal of the FAFSA Matters Missoula campaign is to give families convenient places and times to receive FAFSA assistance from qualified, trained tutors or "FAFSA coaches." The FAFSA coaches that will be assisting students and their families include MCPS teachers and counselors from Hellgate High School, Big Sky High School, Sentinel High School, and the Alternative High School programs at Willard School that have been trained by the Student Assistance Foundation of Montana.

The locations and times for our events were in part determined through a survey of 283 MCPS high school seniors and 112 parents of high school seniors in November 2012. Their feedback help us to plan six local events, included an evening targeted towards American Indian students and their families. Each event will offer snacks, prizes, and computer access. The dates, times, and locations are as follows:

Wednesday, Jan. 30, Big Sky High School Public Library, 4 to 8 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 5, American Indian Student Night, Sentinel High School, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 6, Hellgate High School, 4 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 9, Big Sky High School Public Library, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb, 13, Sentinel High School, 4 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb, 27, Missoula Public Library, 6 to 9 p.m.

There is no set program to these events, so parents and students are invited to drop-in and file their FAFSA at any time, whether they would like to complete it independently or be walked through the process by a FAFSA coach. Through these efforts, we hope to help MCPS students and their families file the FAFSA early enough to qualify for the federal grants, loans, and work study aid that makes postsecondary education possible for so many students.

For additional information, please contact Missoula County Public Schools’ MTCC Americorps VISTA Adrianna Ely at [email protected] or phone at 728 2400, ext. 1095.