CHARLESTON, W.Va. — High schools, colleges and universities across West Virginia will be hosting FAFSA Day events Thursday in an effort to help students fill out the financial aid form.
The event is meant to help students and their families navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process.
Brian Weingart, senior director of financial aid at the state Higher Education Policy Commission, said filling out the FAFSA form can help students in many ways.
“The FAFSA is the gate to federal financial aid, state financial aid, institutional scholarships as well as private scholarships like the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation will require a copy of the FAFSA, so it unlocks thousands of dollars in financial aid for students to help them go to college,” he said.
There will be in-person workshops where students will be provided with one-on-one assistance. Weingart said it helps to talk to someone face-to-face especially if they’re applying for the first time.
“Some people who’ve been through the process before feel comfortable, but if they’ve never been through this process it helps to have someone guiding them along the way,” he said.
Students and families who are unable to participate in FAFSA Day activities can call the state’s financial aid hotline at 877-987-7664 for assistance.
There will also be a live webinar for those who can’t make the in-person events. The CFWV Facebook page will feature two live FAFSA line-by-line webinars at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday. These webinars will provide an interactive platform for parents to ask questions and engage with financial aid experts via the video’s comment section.
The form is typically available by Oct. 1 of each year, but this year it is only available right now as a soft launch because of changes to the form.
Students should be prepared with the FAFSA online ID to get the process started, Weingart said.
For more information on West Virginia’s financial aid programs, visit CollegeForWV.com.
Here is a full list of FAFSA Day locations:
- Bethany College
- Blue Ridge Community and Technical College
- Bluefield State University
- BridgeValley Community and Technical College
- Brooke High School
- Cameron High School
- Concord University
- Eastern West Virginia Community Foundation
- Fairmont State University
- Fayette County Schools
- Glenville State University
- Grafton High School/Taylor County Schools
- HATS: TRIO
- Jefferson County Schools – Washington High School
- John Marshall High School
- Lincoln County High School
- Magnolia High School
- Man High School
- Mingo Central High School
- Mountwest Community and Technical College
- Musselman High School
- Paw Paw High School
- Pierpont Community and Technical College
- River View High School
- Sherman High School
- Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College
- Spring Valley High School
- Summers County Schools
- TRIO Student Support Services at Shepherd University
- Tucker County High School
- University of Charleston
- Wayne High School
- West Liberty University
- West Virginia Northern Community College
- West Virginia State University
- West Virginia University
- West Virginia University Institute of Technology
- Wheeling University
- Wirt County High School
- WVESC – Preston County