WILLMAR -- High school seniors and their families don't have to go it alone when it comes to navigating their federal college financial aid forms.
Volunteers will be available at 25 different locations around the state on Sunday afternoon to help them get started with the process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
To sweeten the deal a bit, one student at each location will win a drawing for a $500 scholarship.
The event is called College Goal Sunday.
It started in Indiana in 1989 and has spread from state to state since then.
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This is the program's second year in Minnesota and the first in Willmar.
Those interested in attending the two-hour program should come to the Willmar Senior High cafeteria at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Spanish and Somali translators will be available. No pre-registration is needed.
Todd Johnson, a Willmar attorney, will lead people step by step through the process of answering the questions on the pre-application worksheet. Volunteers will be available to answer individual questions.
The gathering is aimed at low-income families and families sending their first generation to college, but it's open to anyone, Johnson said. The presentation will likely benefit anyone who will be filling out a FAFSA this year, he added.
Johnson is also a volunteer college counselor at Willmar's Senior High and Area Learning Center. He meets with students and parents to talk about financial aid and choosing the right college.
In fact, he encourages people to apply for financial aid before they choose a school.
For some families, it may cost less to send their child to a private school rather than a public one, because private schools sometimes offer better financial aid packages.
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"I came from a very middle class background growing up," Johnson said. "I went to some very expensive private schools, because the schools paid for it all."
The FAFSA is the form required by most colleges, universities and technical schools in the country. Students who complete it may qualify for grants, scholarships, loans and work-study jobs.
Those at the meeting will learn the advantages of filing the FAFSA online. With an online application, mistakes are caught right away, and a response may come within hours, and certainly with a day or two, Johnson said.
With a paper application, it can take weeks to get a response, and if errors must be corrected, the process will take weeks longer, he said.
For more information about the program, go to http://www.mncollegegoalsunday.org/ on the Internet.
