State To Offer Free College Financial Aid Workshop in Spanish, Korean and Polish

Non-English-speaking parents of high school students targeted

CHICAGO, IL – High school students whose parents’ native language is Polish, Korean or Spanish are the targets of a unique outreach strategy crafted by the State of Illinois.

In an effort to reach the hundreds of thousands of non-English-speaking parents of Illinois high school students, a state agency today announced a first-of-its-kind college aid workshop that will be translated into Korean, Polish and Spanish.

College aid experts from the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) will describe the financial aid process, and the many scholarships, grants and loans available to Illinois families at a unique workshop on Thursday,
January 22, 7:00 p.m. at Notre Dame High School for Young Men, 7655 W. Dempster, Niles.

Parents will learn about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the basic building block of the financial aid process. They will find out how to apply for the millions of dollars available through ISAC’s scholarship and loan programs, such as the Monetary Award Program (MAP), Silas Purnell Illinois Incentive for Access Grant and Illinois Veteran Grant (IVG).

As the state’s chief provider of financial aid and counseling to college-bound students, ISAC has been aggressively reaching out to parents who have limited English proficiency.

“Our mission at ISAC is to smash barriers to college for every high school student in our diverse state,” said Andrew Davis, ISAC Executive Director. “Applying to college and seeking financial aid is tough in any language. We know that many immigrant parents strongly support their children’s college dreams, but often lack the ‘college-knowledge’ to navigate the process. This workshop for parents will enable Spanish-speaking, Polish-speaking and Korean-speaking parents to get in the game.”

For more information or to register for the free, 2-hour workshop, call 800.899.4722 or visit www.collegezone.com.

About ISAC
The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is the State’s centralized provider of financial assistance aimed at helping students and families access postsecondary education and/or training. Each year, the Commission awards an estimated $400 million in scholarship and grant aid to nearly 185,000 qualified students, and also provides an additional $740 million to borrowers through its student loan programs. The agency offers credit-based alternative loans, a 529 prepaid tuition program known as College Illinois!, and a broad array of outreach and informational services to ensure that families have access to the information they need to pay for a college education. More information is available by calling toll-free 800.899.ISAC (4722) or visiting the agency’s Web site at www.collegezone.com.