As part of our public service outreach, MEFA offers free training for school counselors that is aligned with MASCA’s MA Model and the Massachusetts Career Development Education (CDE) Benchmarks. These events — which include in-person trainings, webinars, and professional conference seminars — can be incorporated into your comprehensive school counseling program.
PDP Certification
MEFA is certified by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to provide Professional Development Points (PDP) to school counselors. Read more about our PDP policy.
Financial Aid Training
Every year, MEFA offers free, in-person financial aid trainings for Massachusetts school counselors and college access professionals. The financial aid training is worth five Professional Development Points (PDPs) and is held 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Our 2020 trainings will include both a beginner and advanced financial aid overview, information on the Commonwealth’s financial aid resources, and a panel discussion from financial aid professionals. A continental breakfast and lunch will be served, and a campus tour by the host institution will be available at the conclusion of the training for school counselors. Sessions will be held in August and October and more details will be provided in Spring 2020.
School Counselor Webinar Series
You can earn more PDPs by attending live MEFA webinars or watching recorded ones on timely college planning topics and completing an Evidence of Learning Form (worth one PDP) for each webinar. We will have new live webinars starting in September 2020.
Upcoming Live School Counselor MEFA Pathway Webinars
We have several webinars scheduled for the 2019-20 academic year focused on our free college and career planning portal, MEFA Pathway. Check our events page here to review and register for those webinars.
Recorded School Counselor Webinars
- Helping Families Understand Financial Aid Offers (Mar 2020)
- Counseling Families with Unique Circumstances (Jan 2020)
- Fin Aid: Nat’l Landscape & Regulatory Updates (Jan 2020)
- Having the College Cost Conversation with Students and Families (Oct 2019)
- The CSS Profile<sup>TM</sup> (Oct 2019)
- Understanding the FAFSA® (Oct 2019)
- College Financing (Sept 2019)
- College Admissions (Sept 2019)
- Working with Foster Youth in the Financial Aid Process (Feb 2019)
- Using Social Media to Communicate to Families (Jan 2018)
- Connecting Undocumented Students to College Access Opportunities (Dec 2016)
Recorded MEFA Pathway Webinars
- New MEFA Pathway Feature: Learn about MA State Benefits (Feb 2020)
- New MEFA Pathway Feature: Learn About the Course Planner (Feb 2020)
- Comparing College’s with MEFA Pathway (Feb 2020)
- MEFA Pathway’s College Cost Calculator (Feb 2020)
- Building & Updating a Resume with MEFA Pathway (December 2019)
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Middle School Features (Mar 2019)
- MEFA Pathway and MyCAP (Feb 2019)
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Student Features (Feb 2019)
- Search for Colleges and Build a College List with MEFA Pathway (Feb 2019)
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Counselor Tools (Dec 2018)
- Discover & Explore Careers with MEFA Pathway (Dec 2018)
Industry Partners
MEFA provides financial aid overviews and sessions on special topics at the annual conferences of several industry partners:
- Massachusetts School Counselor Association (MASCA)
- Massachusetts Educational Opportunities Association (MEOA)
- New England Educational Opportunities Association (NEOA)
- New England Association for College Admission Counseling (NEACAC)
- Massachusetts Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (MASFAA)
If you attend a conference of any of the associations listed above, please be sure to stop by our booth to pick up materials to share with your families.
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