The FAFSA could help you win a $750 college scholarship

The Massachusetts FAFSA Challenge has reached the halfway mark and will conclude on May 1, 2018. FAFSA Day Massachusetts, a program of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA), kicked off the inaugural statewide campaign this past September. The campaign’s goal? To increase the number of Massachusetts high school seniors who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the form used to apply for college financial aid. Timely completion of the FAFSA allows eligible students to be awarded financial aid, which helps to reduce the overall cost of college. Through the challenge, Massachusetts high schools and districts are encouraged to have as many of their students complete the FAFSA as possible.

When the FAFSA Challenge concludes, two high schools will be given a $750 award in one of two categories in which they excelled through May 1, 2018:

1) Highest overall FAFSA completion percentage rate

2) Most improved FAFSA completion percentage rate (compared to May 1, 2017)

Each high school that receives one of the two $750 awards will then designate the funds to a student in the form of a college scholarship. The Massachusetts FAFSA Challenge is open to all high schools physically located in Massachusetts.

To help your high school win the $750 award, encourage every high school senior you know to complete and submit the FAFSA. Students who have not yet completed their FAFSA can receive free assistance with the application at a FAFSA Day event. At FAFSA Day, students and families receive expert guidance on completing the FAFSA. And when students submit a FAFSA, they bolster their high school’s progress towards the FAFSA Challenge goal! Students and families can register for one of nine remaining FAFSA Day events at FAFSADay.org.

For additional details on the Massachusetts FAFSA Challenge, visit FAFSADay.org, or contact fafsaday@gmail.com or 877-424-7627.

Keith Curtis Dimalanta serves as the Assistant Director for Financial Aid Delivery at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a chair of FAFSA Day Massachusetts, a program of the Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA). He attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, and has worked in a private college, university, and institute in the Student Financial Services field for over 8 years. Keith recently received the MASFAA Presidential Award.