Get Ready for FAFSA February!

CFNC’s Countdown to College continues with the next step in the college-going process – paying for college. As part of Financial Aid Awareness month in February, CFNC is bringing you tools and resources to make the most of FAFSA February.

What is FAFSA February? A way to give you and your partners more flexibility to hold FAFSA/financial aid-focused events and activities at times and locations that work best for you.

Tools and Resources Available for FAFSA February

How to Pay for College webinar series for students and families. This series shares the main ways of funding college so students can build a plan that makes paying for college more manageable. We have already covered Searching for Scholarships and How to Pay for College, but we will provide a new scholarship webinar with the NC Community Foundation, a live FAFSA Walkthrough, and a webinar on understanding financial aid award offers.

Social media – grab and go social media graphics and messaging

PowerPoint slides – from previously recorded webinars

Digital Displays - for TV or other screens at an event

Printable Handouts - including special FAFSA Grams to cut out and give to students who have already completed the FAFSA

  • Tip: Use the Finish the FAFSA Report to see which students have completed the FAFSA and deliver these FAFSA Grams alongside candy, stickers, or whatever else you think they would like!

FAFSA 101 landing page – research continues to show that students don’t know enough about FAFSA, why it’s important, and what they need to do to complete the form. Now they can come to one CFNC.org page to get information so they are more comfortable with FAFSA.

FAFSA/financial aid event materials – CFNC is holding eight regional trainings at the end of January/early February where education professionals can pick up the following materials to use with your events: 

  • Printable Handouts - Including the ones found in the toolkit above
  • FAFSA Finished stickers
  • Help chips to use for group events held in computer labs where you are helping multiple students at a time. They can flip the chip to green to indicate they don’t need help and to red when help is needed so you can focus support where it’s needed.

With an entire month dedicated to FAFSA and financial aid, imagine how many students we can reach! Start lining up your partners and events to make this FAFSA February a huge success!