Recently President Obama announced an initiative to boost the number of community college graduates by five million by 2020. We have been very pleased over the years that our elected leaders, both state and federal, have recognized the important role that community colleges play in the country's economic vitality, and in the lives of the colleges' graduates.
Ever since the enactment of the G.I. Bill in 1944, the federal government has had a hand in making it more affordable for students from all walks of life to go to college. In 1965 Congress passed the Higher Education Act, making federal financial aid available to post secondary students. Pell Grants, the Direct Loan Program, Stafford Loans, Perkins Loans, Federal Work-Study, the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant all operate under the umbrella of Title IV of the Higher Education Act, which itself is updated and reauthorized every five or six years or so.
This bit of federal financial aid history is important, not that we will ever quiz you on it, but it means that eligibility for these programs is determined by filling out one form, the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA does not award aid, but it is required in order for students to apply for most college aid. As with everything these days, there is a website that can guide you through the application process: www.fafsa.ed.gov/ . You can even fill out the application online from that site.
Filling out this application can be time consuming, but it can be made easier by already having some necessary documents on hand. Besides supplying information from the previous year's income records, such as your 2008 W-2 forms, you will need to fill in information about your current bank statements, and should have on hand a copy of your 2008 Federal Income Tax Return. If you're a dependent student, you will need your parent's income tax return also.
The application will ask you for the federal codes of the colleges that you want to have access to your financial aid information. Our Federal School Code at WMCC is 005291. To be eligible for aid and most scholarships at White Mountains Community College a student must apply and be admitted to a program of study. To be eligible for a Stafford Loan, a student must be taking six credits worth of classes a semester. Go to our website at www.wmcc.edu/ and click on Financial Aid in the left hand column for the financial aid handbook.
All colleges and universities have financial aid offices. White Mountains Community College, with its main campus in Berlin and academic centers in Conway, Littleton and Woodsville, has college staff waiting to guide students through the process. If you have any questions give us a call at 752-1113, or stop by and make an appointment to meet with our financial aid staff. We are here to help you make the most important investment in your life, your investment in a college education.
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