HAMMOND and WESTVILLE, Ind. – Financial aid professionals will be on site at Purdue University Northwest’s (PNW) Hammond and Westville campuses to help college-bound students and their families apply for financial aid during free College Goal Sunday programs Sunday, Nov. 7 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. CST.
PNW’s Hammond campus program will be hosted in the library on the second floor of the Student Union and Library Building, 2233 173rd Street, Hammond. The Westville campus program will be in Room 219 of the Technology Building, 200 Central Drive, Westville.
FAFSA essential for financial aid consideration
Completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required for students to be eligible for state and federal grants, scholarships and student loans offered by most colleges, universities and vocational schools across the U.S.
The deadline for FAFSA submission to be eligible for Indiana financial aid is April 15, 2022.
“If you need money for college, FAFSA provides resources to help with some of those educational expenses,” said Tanika House, PNW assistant director of Financial Aid. “This workshop assists students and their families with the FAFSA application to receive the maximum amount of available financial aid and scholarships.
College Goal Sunday, a charitable program organized by the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association (ISFAA), has helped more than 94,000 Hoosier students and families complete the FAFSA correctly and on time. This is College Goal Sunday’s 33rd year.
“Students who don’t complete their financial aid paperwork properly and on time are often very disappointed when they find out how much financial aid they lost,” said Bill Wozniak, co-chair of College Goal Sunday. “This is why the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association not only continues to provide College Goal Sunday, but offers two events during the year. If our assistance gives students a better chance at education beyond high school and less debt, we’re fulfilling our mission.”
The second College Goal Sunday of the 2021-22 academic year will be hosted Feb. 27.
Materials to bring
Students age 23 or younger should attend College Goal Sunday with a parent(s) or guardian(s). Parents and guardians should bring completed 2020 IRS 1040 tax returns, W-2 Forms and other 2020 income and benefits information. Students who worked should also bring their income information.
Students age 24 and older may attend alone and bring their completed 2020 IRS 1040 tax return, W-2 Form or other 2020 income and benefits information.
Students and parents are encouraged to apply for their U.S. Department of Education FSA IDs at studentaid.gov before coming to the event.
Volunteers will walk through the online form line-by-line and answer families’ individual questions as needed. All sites offer FAFSA online capabilities and many have Spanish interpreters.
Attendees can enter drawing for scholarships
Students who attend College Goal Sunday and submit a completed evaluation form will be entered in a drawing to win one of five College Goal Sunday $1,000 scholarships. Winners will be notified in spring and scholarships will be sent directly to the higher education institution selected by the winning students.
Additional information
Financial aid information can be obtained at Purdue Northwest by visiting the university’s financial aid website at www.pnw.edu/finaid; e-mailing the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@pnw.edu; or phoning the office at 219-989-2301 (Hammond) or at 219-785-5460 (Westville).
For more information and a complete list of sites, individuals may visit the College Goal Sunday website at http://www.collegegoalsunday.org/.
College Goal Sunday is a charitable collaboration involving the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association, in cooperation with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. College Goal Sunday is co-funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and INvestEd.
Purdue University Northwest
Purdue University Northwest (PNW) is a premier metropolitan university dedicated to empowering transformational change in our students and in our community. Located in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago, PNW values academic excellence, supports growth, and celebrates diversity. For more information about PNW, visit www.pnw.edu.
