Students: Get financial aid help Jan. 9 at College Goal Tennessee event

MTSU and the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation will help make the daunting task of applying for financial aid a little bit easier during College Goal Tennessee 2016.

Click on the poster to visit MTSU’s College Goal Tennessee registration website.

Prospective, incoming and returning students from all areas and schools — not just MTSU — are welcome to attend the free event Saturday, Jan. 9.

It will be held from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 9 in MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building; a searchable campus map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking2015-16.

Advance registration is requested, but not required, at http://mtsu.edu/goal.

Check-in will take place in the BAS south lobby. From there, students and their parents will be directed to rooms where volunteers will guide them through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.

The FAFSA is an online form that is essential for students who hope to obtain financial aid to attend a college or university. The digital document has more than 90 questions.

Becca Seul

“The earlier you do the FAFSA, the more money you’re likely to get from the state,” said Becca Seul, coordinator of withdrawals and support programs in the MTSU Student Services and Admissions Center.

The official deadline for state funding is March 1, and Seul is encouraging students not to wait until the last minute.

“If you wait until then, we lose a lot of time in the verification and paperwork process,” Seul said. “Last year, state funds ran out in February.”

Participating parents or adult nontraditional students must bring monthly bank statements, tax information for the preceding year (in this case, 2015), photo identification and Social Security cards.

“You will be thankful that you will have done this early because you will have eliminated a lot of confusion and headaches,” said Seul.

For more information, contact Seul at 615-494-8910 or becca.seul@mtsu.edu. You also can visit the state website at www.tn.gov/collegegoaltn/topic/information.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)