Morningside College is offering students and families free assistance to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Morningside is working with the Iowa College Access Network to offer the event, which is free and open to any family wishing to receive assistance with completing the FAFSA. 

The events will take place on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019, from 4-7 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Both events will take place in Buhler Rohlfs Hall, Room 227, on the Morningside campus.

“All families are invited to attend this event, even if you do not have a student planning to attend Morningside,” said Karen Gagnon, associate vice president of institutional research and director of financial planning. “Our goal is to help all families with this process because it ensures that every student gets the best chance at the maximum amount of financial aid available to them.”

Volunteers will help students and their families fill out and file the FAFSA as part of a national program that helps students qualify for financial aid. The FAFSA, which is available in free paper and electronic forms from the U.S. Department of Education, is the first step in the qualification process.

The result of this application is used to determine a student’s financial aid that may be available from the federal government, state government, colleges, universities, and occasionally from private organizations.

“There are families who choose not to complete the FAFSA thinking they won’t qualify for anything, but we strongly encourage every family to complete it because it may offer options a family isn’t aware of until they see the results,” Gagnon shared.

To complete the FAFSA, families should bring, for both the student and parent, the following:

  • Social Security number, driver’s license number and date of birth
  • 2018 federal and state tax returns
  • 2018 W-2 forms or other records of income
  • Current bank statements and investment records
  • Records of untaxed income received in 2018
  • 2018 business and farm records