College financial aid help available at BCCC on February 20 | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Need help applying for financial aid to attend college? Visit Beaufort County Community College for FAFSA Day!

    Beaufort County Community College financial aid officers and specialists will be available 9 a.m. to noon at BCCC Saturday, Feb. 20, in room 927 of Building 9 on the BCCC campus as one of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, Day programs across North Carolina.

    The purpose of the event is to help high school seniors and families complete and submit their FAFSA form, a requirement for students to be considered for all federal and most state financial aid for college, including grants and scholarships from the BCCC Foundation.

    This year's statewide FAFSA Day is sponsored by College Foundation of North Carolina, the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and the State Employees' Credit Union.

    Pre-registration is strongly encouraged, according to Jo Woolard, director of Financial Aid for BCCC.

    In order to be fully prepared to complete the FAFSA on Feb. 20, event participants should bring the following items to FAFSA Day:

• both the student's and parents' federal 1040 tax forms for 2010 (or W-2 forms and other income and asset documents if completed tax forms are not available);
• the student's and one parent's Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) obtained in advance from the U.S. Department of Education website, www.pin.ed.gov;
• a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet with as much information entered as possible. The online worksheet is available at www.fafsa.gov.

    "It's important to complete the FAFSA early to take advantage of all of the financial aid opportunities available for North Carolinians," said Woolard. "Students and parents don't need to worry if they aren't sure how to answer all of the questions on the form. That's why we have arranged to have experienced financial aid specialists to help at the BCCC FAFSA Day."

    Additional free college planning information is available at the College Foundation of North Carolina website, CFNC.org. Families can find college cost estimators, listings of scholarship, grant and loan opportunities, information about North Carolina's 529 college savings plan, career information, virtual tours of more than 100 of the state's college campuses and online college admission and financial aid applications.

    FAFSA Day is partially supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education via the College Access Challenge Grant Program.

    For more information about FAFSA Day at BCCC, contact Woolard at 252-940-6219 or by email at jo.woolard@beaufortccc.edu.

    Beaufort County Community College is a public comprehensive community college committed to accessible and affordable quality education, effective teaching, relevant training, and lifelong learning opportunities for the people served by the College.