RI Student Loan Authority to Hold Virtual Forums to Help Families With Financial Aid Forms
Friday, January 21, 2022
The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) has launched a comprehensive outreach campaign aimed at getting more financial aid to graduating seniors interested in attending college.
This week, RISLA announced that it has scheduled two virtual question-and-answer forums in collaboration with the Rhode Island Department of Education, which will be held on January 20 (English) at 5:00 PM and January 27 (Spanish) at 4:00 PM.
Free registration is available at collegeplanningcenter.org.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe goal of the campaign is to increase the completion rate of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), which is the gateway to free federal and college grants and federal loans
"In past years, our FAFSA completion rate has been among the best in the country and we hope to replicate that positive response. To assist high school guidance counselors, our College Planning Center has developed a broad-based campaign that provides students with the tools they need to complete the forms in as easy and hassle-free way as possible," said Charles Kelley, Executive Director of RISLA.
“Currently, Rhode Island ranks 11th in the country with a 32.5 percent FAFSA completion rate. We would like to achieve a 70 percent completion rate so clearly, we have our work cut out for us," he added.
About FAFSA Campain
In addition to the virtual question and answer forums for parents and students, the education campaign includes:
Newspaper and radio ads in English and Spanish that promote the availability of assistance;
“How to videos” in Spanish and English which can be found on the College Planning Center website at collegeplanningcenter.org;
Students and families can text the word “FAFSA” to 24000 to schedule an over the phone help session with experts from the College Planning Center and to view helpful videos in English or Spanish;
Twitter: @CPCRI
Facebook: College Planning Center of RI
Instagram: @risla_cpc
“As always, we at the College Planning Center (CPC) are working with high school guidance counselors to communicate the importance of filling out the FAFSA, and we are hopeful the use of a variety of channels will help us have a conversation about the array of tools at their disposal,” explained Stacy Crooks, Director of the RISLA College Planning Center. “Additionally, we have extended our hours at the CPC to Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 7:00 pm and Saturdays, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm.
Finally, RISLA has developed an on-line tool kit which may be accessed here.
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