STATE REPRESENTATIVE HOSTS FINANCIAL AID COMPLETION NIGHT AT WEST SIDE HIGH SCHOOL

State Representative LaShawn Ford serves as the Chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations Committee for the Illinois General Assembly and recently hosted a FAFSA Completion Night with Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School. Photo Credit: Provided by the Office of State Representative LaShawn Ford
State Representative LaShawn Ford serves as the Chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations Committee for the Illinois General Assembly and recently hosted a FAFSA Completion Night with Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School. Photo Credit: Provided by the Office of State Representative LaShawn Ford

State Representative Hosts Financial Aid Completion Night At West Side High School

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

State Representative LaShawn Ford recently hosted a FAFSA Completion Night at Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School, 5101 W. Harrison St., for students who are preparing to continue their education after graduating from high school and who need help navigating the federal financial aid process.

FAFSA, or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is how potential students apply for financial aid, including grants, work-study programs, and loans, to help them pay for college or career school. The Federal Student Aid program is administered by the U.S. Department of Education and provides $150 billion in financial aid every year through the FAFSA applications, according to the FAFSA website.

Representative Ford currently serves as the Chairman of the Higher Education Appropriations Committee for the Illinois General Assembly. The committee is in charge of overseeing the funding for public post-secondary institutions in Illinois and the Monetary Award Program (MAP) which provides grants for Illinois residents who attend approved post-secondary schools in Illinois.

“Our goal in this committee is to do everything we can to get our public universities built up and make them more affordable. Right now, the problem with our public universities is that students cannot afford to even go to our public universities,” said Ford. “A public university is still very, very expensive and federal money on top of the MAP grant money is not enough.”

During the recent FAFSA Completion Night, students and their parents were able to come together to ask questions, connect with resources, and complete their FAFSA applications together.

“We wanted to not only raise awareness about FAFSA but to also provide technical assistance because it’s difficult and it’s not an easy process to apply for financial aid,” said Ford. “What we did was make sure we brought parents and students together in one room with the technical assistance so that they can apply for their award.”

In previous years, FAFSA applications opened up in January but recently that start date has been moved up several months to October 1 which is critical for students and their parents to know because federal student aid is awarded on a first come first serve basis until it is gone for the year.

“People are not aware that financial aid is first come first serve and that’s major because there is a limited funding source for FAFSA and for MAP,” said Ford. “We want to make sure we connect with people in the neighborhoods where we know the graduation rate is lower, which can be for a number of reasons and one of the reasons is affordability. We know that people start and then don’t finish because they can’t afford to finish but we also know that a lot of people are not making a deadline for applying for their grant money.”

For those unable to attend the recent event, Representative Ford’s office can provide further assistance and resources to help apply for post-secondary education financial aid.

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