To apply for most financial aid and scholarships, students need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student AID. More commonly called by its acronym, FAFSA is an online form that qualifies students for money to help pay for school beyond high school. The FSA ID is the first step to finish before filling out the FAFSA. While they seem complicated and intimidating, there is free help for both.
Every year on October 1, FAFSA opens to high school seniors and anyone considering post-high school education during the following school year. This annual application is the key to receiving most financial aid and scholarship. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) can seem overwhelming. Often, students and families worry they won’t qualify, or won’t be able to finish it. Free FAFSA Completion Events are designed to help. Counselors and experts provide in-person guidance at community events located throughout Collier County.
A recent comprehensive case study explores Future Ready Collier’s history, goals and drivers, network, reasons for success, and long-term direction. As a collective impact network of more than 60 Collier County education providers, organizations, and supporters, Future Ready Collier works to ensure all children enter kindergarten ready, and all high school students graduate with a plan for continuing education or a career. This case study provides a high-level analysis of the components that keep the network and its mission on track.
Future Ready Collier Partners with Florida College Access Network around FAFSA
Collier County high school graduates of the classes of 2020 and 2021 who completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid—more commonly known by its acronym, FAFSA—between June 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021 can enter to win prizes through the Florida College Access Network’s Cash for College program. Entries are accepted through September 30, 2021 at futurereadycollier.org/cash-for-college/. Students who submit their FAFSA confirmations will be eligible for prizes including a laptop, money for textbook purchases, and Amazon gift cards.
Florida College Access Network (FCAN), a state-level partner to Future Ready Collier, has launched its Cash for College initiative. The program encourages anyone thinking about post-high school education to finish their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). FAFSA is the most direct and inclusive way for postsecondary students to apply for and receive funding for school. This includes federal financial aid as well as consideration for other scholarships and grants.
Schools and students nationwide have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among obvious indicators, kindergarten enrollment is down across the country. Rural and urban areas, and crossing sociodemographic categories, have been touched by this trend. There are potentially multiple reasons why. Why it has happened, however, is no less important than how we plan for what’s next. Future Ready Collier and its partners are aware of these concerns, and are taking steps to help.
As a community-based collective impact network, Future Ready Collier appreciates the critical importance of having the right information, at the right time, in the hands of the people who need it. Recently, Future Ready Collier undertook major website reorganization. The new Resources pages enable users to more easily find what is useful to them. Web pages are specific to Family Resources, Partner Resources, and Reports and Data.
Future Ready Collier regularly brings together community representatives to ensure the network is aware of the most pressing regional needs. A theme throughout this last 12-month period, since the earliest onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been the threat to Southwest Floridians’ mental health. Stakeholders agree this is an urgent priority.
If it feels like 2020 rolled right into 2021 without a break in the action, you would not be alone. But there are important updates and deadlines that come along with the new year! Read more for news from Collier County Public Schools about school registrations, as well as separate critical upcoming scholarship deadlines, and FAFSA information.
A special contribution from the FutureMakers Coalition with Florida SouthWestern State College (FSW) and Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to the Fort Myers News-Press wants students on track to finish their associate’s degree that they may already have earned that credential. As students transfer from FSW to FGCU to pursue a bachelor’s degree, they may think any progress towards an AA is left behind. These schools want you to know, that’s not the case.