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1/20/2005
February is Financial Aid/Admission Awareness Month (FAAM) in Illinois - the perfect time for students and their families to complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)!
To assist Illinois families as they apply for college financial aid for the 2005-06 academic year, dozens of FAFSA Workshops have been scheduled across the state throughout the month of February. These workshops offer students and parents an opportunity to have their questions answered by financial aid experts. Many of the events even have computers available so that families can complete and submit the FAFSA right at the workshop! The current list of FAFSA Workshop events, as well as a checklist of important materials for families to bring to the workshop, is available at the FAAM Web site.
Included on this list are January 30, 2005 and February 27, 2005, which have been designated as College Goal Sundays in Illinois. FAAM-sponsored events held on these days are designed to assist low-income families, as well as families from which no members have previously attended college, complete the FAFSA.
The FAAM Web site will continue to be updated as new information becomes available, so be sure to check back on a regular basis.
This year the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) is partnering with the Chicago-based Tax Assistance Program (TAP) to train volunteers to help families apply for student financial aid while they are preparing their income tax returns. Members of the Illinois Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (ILASFAA) are also associated with TAP, which is a financial literacy project whose primary goal is to provide free assistance for low-income families. With the help of volunteers, TAP will assist families as they prepare their FAFSAs and tax returns at events being offered from 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. (CT) each Saturday from January 29th through April 9th (with the exception of March 5th). A listing of sites at which these Saturday events will be offered is provided at the TAP Web site. In addition, assistance will be provided every Tuesday in February from 5:30- 8:30 p.m. (CT) at Roberto Clemente High School, Benito Juarez Community Academy and Chicago's City Hall.
FAAM, a joint effort between ILASFAA, ISAC, the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (IACAC) and Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) lenders, is an outreach campaign focusing on the importance of a college education and the admission process as well as the availability of financial assistance.
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