2008 Woodie Awards
MU Hamilton offers FAFSA help
Rachel Perron
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Campus
More than 50 families seeking help filling out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms crowded into Miami University Hamilton campus's Mosler Hall last Sunday as part of Ohio's College Goal Sunday (CGS).
Earlier this month, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland declared February "Financial Aid Awareness Month," in conjunction with CGS, a program run by the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA) that offers families free help completing their FAFSA forms from financial aid professionals.
Miami Hamilton first volunteered to be a site for CGS last year, according to Kimberly Fields, site coordinator and senior counselor with the Office of Student Financial Assistance at Oxford, becoming the only other site in Butler County besides one at the University of Cincinnati, Hamilton.
"We chose to use the Hamilton campus over Oxford or Middletown because it was a better location," she said.
Overall, there were 38 CGS sites this year in 33 counties across Ohio.
"Families were asked to bring a copy of the FAFSA application from the Web site as completed as possible, along with their tax returns," said Greg Guzman, OASFAA chair of CGS.
The program consisted of a short presentation on filling out the FAFSA form, Fields said, after which families were directed to computer labs where they submitted their application online with the help of the Hamilton site's 13 volunteers.
According to Fields, volunteers included local high school counselors and financial aid counselors from the University of Cincinnati and Miami's Oxford and Hamilton campuses.
CGS began in 1989 in Indiana, and currently 38 states participate in the program. According to Guzman, Ohio became involved in 2002.
The seed money to found CGS was provided by the Lumina Foundation for Education, with this year's program funded by the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, according to Guzman.
As a national program, CSG targets first generation college students, Guzman said, however Ohio's program targets all college students in addition to first generation students.
Earlier this month, Ohio Governor Ted Strickland declared February "Financial Aid Awareness Month," in conjunction with CGS, a program run by the Ohio Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (OASFAA) that offers families free help completing their FAFSA forms from financial aid professionals.
Miami Hamilton first volunteered to be a site for CGS last year, according to Kimberly Fields, site coordinator and senior counselor with the Office of Student Financial Assistance at Oxford, becoming the only other site in Butler County besides one at the University of Cincinnati, Hamilton.
"We chose to use the Hamilton campus over Oxford or Middletown because it was a better location," she said.
Overall, there were 38 CGS sites this year in 33 counties across Ohio.
"Families were asked to bring a copy of the FAFSA application from the Web site as completed as possible, along with their tax returns," said Greg Guzman, OASFAA chair of CGS.
The program consisted of a short presentation on filling out the FAFSA form, Fields said, after which families were directed to computer labs where they submitted their application online with the help of the Hamilton site's 13 volunteers.
According to Fields, volunteers included local high school counselors and financial aid counselors from the University of Cincinnati and Miami's Oxford and Hamilton campuses.
CGS began in 1989 in Indiana, and currently 38 states participate in the program. According to Guzman, Ohio became involved in 2002.
The seed money to found CGS was provided by the Lumina Foundation for Education, with this year's program funded by the Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, according to Guzman.
As a national program, CSG targets first generation college students, Guzman said, however Ohio's program targets all college students in addition to first generation students.
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