The Financial Aid office is offering free help to students in getting started with filling out their FAFSA for next fall.

Brittney Mauk and Laura Lange, assistant directors of financial aid, and Rhetta Bajczyk, associate director of financial aid, will be set up in the Campus Center near the Daily Grind on the following dates:

• Tuesday, March 1 – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Monday, March 14 – 3 to 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 15 – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To sign up for financial aid assistance on one of these days, students can go to http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0b4caaae28a3fa7-jumpstart. Students are also welcome to walk up, no sign up needed, for help or general financial aid questions.

At each of these sessions, there will be six laptops available for students to use. Mauk, Lange and Bajczyk will be around for any questions a student might have or for step-by-step help with completing financial aid information.

“These sessions are designed very casually,” said Mauk. “I don’t want the students to think they have to sit there and fill out the whole FAFSA. If they have 30 minutes to spare, we can get them started and they can always finish it at a later time.”

There are two key reasons why the Financial Aid office is having these sessions.

The first is due to deadlines: The LC Financial Aid Application is due on March 1. The priority date for the FAFSA is March 15. This is the date that allows students to be eligible for the most amount of aid possible.

The second reason for encouraging students to complete their FAFSA soon is because, as Mauk said, “I want students to be able to enjoy their summer and not have to worry about completing their financial aid requirements.”

The federal aid deadline is June 30, 2016.

The goal of the Financial Aid office is for all returning students “to have their FAFSA’s and LC financial aid applications in prior to the end of the term,” said Mauk.

For students with conflicting commitments during these sessions, Mauk said she is “more than happy to schedule personal appointments at a time that works best for them.”

For more information, students are encouraged to contact the office of Financial Aid by phone, at 920-565-1032, or by email to set up an appointment. Mauk can be reached at [email protected].