During this time of COVID, colleges and universities are setting up webinars, Zoom and Facebook Live sessions to help students and parents fill out financial aid packets (FAFSA) and answer questions about the process. Below is a list of upcoming financial aid seminars coming up. Please keep checking back for more. The list will be…
Read MoreCollege planning is a big undertaking that involves time and organization but pays off enormously in the end. A large part of college prep is planning to apply for federal financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). According to the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), millions of students who are…
Read MoreOCTOBER 1, 2020 — LEAP Tampa Bay encourages students and adults to take the first step in applying for need-based and merit-based financial aid for college today, the first day the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2021-2022 year is available to download at www.studentaid.gov Qualifying students can receive more than $6,000…
Read MoreAs if the process of applying to college isn’t intimidating enough, throw in a financial aid application and it’s enough to discourage even the most dedicated students. To make matters worse, each year, millions of financial aid dollars go unclaimed because students just do not apply! Enter the new chatbot created by the Benefits Data…
Read MoreThe notoriously complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid will soon be getting a facelift, thanks to new legislation signed into law Thursday. The bipartisan FUTURE Act will cut the number of FAFSA questions by approximately 20% and will allow for better, more accurate data sharing between the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of…
Read MorePublic high schools around the Tampa Bay area are invited to participate once again in a competition to increase completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) It’s all part of a statewide effort called the Florida FAFSA Challenge, which aims to boost the number of Florida students completing the federal financial aid application by 5…
Read MoreIt’s officially FAFSA season! The 2020-21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available starting today (Oct. 1). Filing a FAFSA is the first step to taking advantage of financial aid opportunities that are available to your family. Ready to get started? Below, we break down some of the basics you need to know before…
Read MoreEach year, more than half of the students who would qualify for free federal aid for their education do not complete the required application to receive the funding. Recent research shows that in Florida more than 40,000 students who would have been eligible to receive an average of almost $4,000 in Pell Grants didn’t receive…
Read MoreThe maximum award for Federal Pell Grants has increased to $6,195 for the upcoming academic year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The new maximum award amount represents a slight increase from 2018-2019’s maximum of $6,095. Federal Pell Grants are a type of college financial aid awarded to students who have great financial need. Unlike…
Read MorePublic high schools around the Tampa Bay area are participating in a challenge to increase completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) – hosting financial aid awareness events, working with students and parents one-on-one, and helping to identify students who need to correct errors on their form that could prevent them from…
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