College Goal Sunday provides students and their families with important information and resources for acquiring financial aid. – Photo by Harry Kane

By Harry Kane

Somerville high school seniors and parents seek funds to cover the costs of college tuition. During the eighth annual FAFSA day on Jan. 29 several families were helped by volunteers to learn about the application process for the financial aid program.

This year more prospective students and parents attended the FAFSA day presentation than during the previous seven years, says Patricia Reilly, the director of financial aid at Tufts University. Approximately 70 people showed up to listen to the power point presentation, which provided instructions for the financial aid program.

FAFSA consists of several federal student aid programs. The grants and scholarships awarded to prospective students are funds, which do not need to be repaid.  Loans, however, do need to be repaid, but the money borrowed may typically allow for less costly borrowing options. The last type of FAFSA financial aid is Federal Work Study, an employment program.

The National Center for Education Statistics has documented the change in costs for college and the results indicate a huge spike in necessity for financial aid.  In the past decade tuition has risen 37 percent for public schools and 25 percent for private institutions, after factoring in inflation adjustments. In a study “80 percent of full time undergraduate students received financial aid,” in the 2007—08 academic year, according to the digest of education statistics.

Following the initial presentation in the cafeteria,  the prospective students and parents went upstairs to the library to complete the online paperwork.  Roughly a dozen volunteers assisted the newbies in filing for FAFSA.

David Leopold, a volunteer from Access Boston said, “The most difficult part [for those signing up] is finding the questions and corresponding number or answer on tax returns, like the adjusted gross income.”

“All these families never completed them before. It’s not easy for the foreign language students to comprehend, Leopold explained.”

Several student volunteers were present to assist in the translation for Spanish, Portuguese and Creole language-based-families. “We find often in communities like Somerville that there are non-English language students doing these forms. That is why we offer as much help as we can cause it can be pretty overwhelming,” Reilly said.

One of the mothers signing up for her daughter had a good experience overall but noted an issue that she had with the process. “I actually thought we would have one on one help. I didn’t realize that we’d be all sitting together in a public area, because I could hear other people’s information,” said CarloJean Cassidy.

After the application process was completed Cassidy did not feel overwhelmed by the process. “It really wasn’t that bad. I thought it could have taken me longer to fill it out but it only took me an hour.

Cassidy, who went to Somerville High School herself, was filling out her daughter Brittany’s FAFSA application. Brittany was accepted to the University of New Hampshire in early action admission. “It’s such a relief to find out early. I don’t have to keep waiting and waiting.”

Italo De Pinho has applied to Bunker Hill Community college. It only took him thirty minutes to compete the FAFSA application.

Most of the prospective students and parents finished their applications and left within an hour.