College goal Sunday: this annual event helps get families in shape for the college aid process.ALTHOUGH NOT EVERYONE knows it, there are two Super Sundays The term Super Sunday may refer to the following
The college admissions process can be daunting daunt tr.v. daunt·ed, daunt·ing, daunts To abate the courage of; discourage. See Synonyms at dismay. [Middle English daunten, from Old French danter, from Latin . And navigating (networking, hypertext) navigating - Finding your way around. Often used of the Internet, particularly the World-Wide Web. A browser is a tool for navigating hypertext documents. financial aid forms can frustrate even the most college-savvy family. For students whose parents never attended college, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA FAFSA Free Application for Federal Student Aid (US Department of Education) ) can seem like a map to an unknown country written in a foreign language. Too often, the family drops out of the college admission process. Research has shown that the mete availability of funds isn't enough to push these students over the threshold to higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. . Finding a way to keep them from being overwhelmed o·ver·whelm tr.v. o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms 1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline. 2. a. by the process is how College Goal Sunday got its start, in Indiana back in 1989. It's a joint project of the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association and the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana, with funding from Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and is among the ten largest such endowments in the United States. The endowment was founded in 1937 by J. K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J. K. Jr. . As word of Indiana's success spread, so did the program. In 2006, 26 states will offer College Goal Sunday. New states are seed-funded by a three-year Lumina Lumina may refer to:
A WINNING GAME PLAN Over the years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time two main goals of the program have remained constant: * Use a variety of channels to provide families with vital information about the availability of financial aid for postsecondary education, and * Provide families with the expert assistance needed to complete the paperwork required to qualify for that aid. Since January is prime FAFSA season, College Goal Sunday is generally scheduled for a Sunday a week or two after the NFL's Super Bowl (the exact date varies by state). During the events, financial aid professionals walk families through the entire FAFSA application step-by-step. By the time participants leave, they know how to apply, what they are applying for, and the next steps they must take to stay on track to qualify for funding. The concept behind these programs is simple, but it takes months of planning and creativity to achieve. Tasks include applying for the grant, pulling together a task force with collaborative partners, identifying suitable program sites, developing the program itself, launching a public information campaign, delivering the program, and assessing results. NASFAA provides states with assistance in all of these areas. TEAMWORK (product, software, tool) Teamwork - A SASD tool from Sterling Software, formerly CADRE Technologies, which supports the Shlaer/Mellor Object-Oriented method and the Yourdon-DeMarco, Hatley-Pirbhai, Constantine and Buhr notations. COUNTS Remarkably, each state's College Goal Sunday uses a workforce made entirely of volunteers. Financial aid administrators and admissions staff are an essential part of the process, helping to spread the word and giving of their time. They are far from alone. Partners (such as the federal TRIO and Gear Up programs) work directly with the target population, helping families develop trust that can continue through the admissions process. High school guidance counselors guidance counselor Child psychology A school worker trained to screen, evaluate and advise students on career and academic matters have daily contact with students and parents and are the primary source of program information. Strategies also are designed to reach the growing population of adult students. College Goal Sunday programs operate through state agencies, such as financial aid associations, guarantee agencies, colleges, or the state higher education commission. The applying agency must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. or its equivalent and include higher education attainment in its mission. Because sharing resources is vital to the success of the program, collaboration with other mission-related partners is also required. Rather than creating materials and programs and hoping to reach the target population (the "if you build it, they will come" approach), College Goal Sunday messages and outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. are based on research data. A major data source is College Access Marketing (www.collegeaccessmarketing.org), developed by College Goal Sunday national partner Pathways to College. The site contains step-by-step instructions on developing the types of public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most campaigns that have a proven track record of increasing college participation. College Goal Sunday's own website (www.collegegoalsundayusa.org) aims to: * Provide families, students, and schools with information about the College Goal Sunday program, as well as guidance on who should attend, when and where to go, what to bring, and what to expect. * Offer guidance for current and prospective College Goal Sunday states, including information and materials such as grant applications, resources to assist in completing the applications, and models of grants from other states. Colleges themselves can endorse To sign a paper or document, thereby making it possible for the rights represented therein to pass to another individual. Also spelled indorse. endorse (indorse) v. the program by allotting work hours for it, as well as by opening their auditorium auditorium Portion of a theater or hall where an audience sits, as distinct from the stage. The auditorium originated in the theaters of ancient Greece, as a semicircular seating area cut into a hillside. , classroom, and computer lab doors on a Sunday, free of charge, in order for families to complete the FAFSA form with professional assistance. Participating financial aid administrators can meet their goal of providing access and choice to students who may otherwise be unable to attend college. Through community partnerships, the program helps aid offices reach beyond traditional "financial aid night" activities to assist families who may never have set foot on a college campus. While interacting with aid administrators during an event, families can begin to view financial aid staff as people trying to help cut through the red tape, not create more of it. The program reaches students who might otherwise never complete the application process, facilitates the application process for both students and schools, and improves students' relationships with the student aid office on whatever campus they choose. Participating in College Goal Sunday also offers institutions an image as active participants in the college access campaigns for the underserved population. For all of these reasons, NASFAA encourages IHEs in states that have yet to undertake a College Goal Sunday program to establish one. Although College Goal Sunday has helped more than 100,000 students and families, there is always room to grow. Now that's super. Marcia Weston is director of College Goal Sunday Operations for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. She can be reached at WestonM@NASFAA.org. STATES PARTICIPATING IN COLLEGE GOAL SUNDAY 2006 Alaska Minnesota * Arizona Missouri Delaware Montana District of Columbia Nevada Florida * New Jersey * Hawaii New Mexico * Illinois Ohio Indiana Oklahoma Kansas Tennessee * Kentucky Texas * Maine Wisconsin * Maryland Wyoming Massachusetts Michigan * New for 2006 |
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