As part of our public service outreach, MEFA offers free training and events that are 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 in the fall, MEFA offers free, in-person financial aid trainings for Massachusetts school counselors and college access professionals. The training is worth five Professional Development Points (PDPs). Information about our 2019 trainings will be posted in September 2019. You can view presentations from our 2018 training below.
School Counselor Webinar Series
You can earn more PDPs by attending live MEFA webinars or watching recorded ones on timely financial aid topics and completing an Evidence of Learning Form (worth one PDP) for each webinar.
Upcoming Live Financial Aid Webinars (All live webinars begin at 10am)
- Fin Aid: Nat’l Landscape & Regulatory Updates: Mon, Jan 14, 2019
- Counseling Families with Unique Circumstances: Wed, Jan 23, 2019
- Having the College Cost Conversation with Students and Families: Tues, Jan 29, 2019
- Helping Families Understand Fin Aid Award Letters: Thurs, April 11, 2019
Upcoming MEFA Pathway Live Webinars (All start times are noted)
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Counselor Tools: Wed, Sept 26, 2018 @ 10am
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Student Features: Wed, Sept 26, 2018 @ 12pm
- Registering a Student in MEFA Pathway: Wed, Sept 26, 2018 @ 3pm
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Counselor Tools: Wed, Oct 31, 2018 @ 10am
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Student Features: Wed, Oct 31, 2018 @ 12pm
- Building a Resume with MEFA Pathway: Wed, Oct 31, 2018 @ 3pm
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Counselor Tools: Wed, Nov 28, 2018 @ 10am
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Student Features: Wed, Nov 28, 2018 @ 12pm
- Learn About Yourself with MEFA Pathway: Wed, Nov 28, 2018 @ 3pm
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Counselor Tools: Wed, Dec 19, 2018 @ 10am
- Get to Know MEFA Pathway’s Student Features: Wed, Dec 19, 2018 @ 12pm
- Discover & Explore Careers with MEFA Pathway: Wed, Dec 19, 2018 @ 3pm
Recorded Webinars
- College Financing (Sept 2018)
- Understanding the FAFSA® (Sept 2018)
- The CSS Profile<sup>TM</sup> (Oct 2018)
- Connecting Undocumented Students to College Access Opportunities (Dec 2016)
- Introduction to MEFA Pathway’s Student Features & Counselor Tools (Oct 2017)
- Working with Foster Youth in the Financial Aid Process (Feb 2017)
- Financial Aid: National Landscape & Regulatory Updates (Jan 2018)
- Counseling Families with Unique Circumstances (Jan 2018)
- MEFA Pathway’s College Cost Calculator (Mar 2018)
- Helping Families Understand Financial Aid Award Letters (April 2018)
- Using Social Media to Communicate to Families (Jan 2018)
- MEFA Pathway’s College Compare Feature (May 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 conferences of any of the associations listed above, please be sure to stop by our booth to pick up materials to share with your families.
Note: The links above will take you away from the MEFA website. MEFA is not responsible for the content of external sites and does not monitor other sites for accuracy.