USA Funds Supports National College Goal Sunday Training

Before the recent conference of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, USA Funds^® sponsored a session that provided training and fostered communication between states that host College Goal Sunday.

College Goal Sunday aims to ease the process of applying for financial aid for college by teaching students and their families about the various forms of financial aid and providing assistance with completion of federal financial-aid forms.

Completing the application necessary to qualify for financial aid can be a daunting task. For some, this obstacle alone can be enough to discourage them from pursuing a postsecondary education. The necessary paperwork and length of the form can be a challenge, especially for those who never have been through the process.

College Goal Sunday began in Indiana in 1989 as a joint project of the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association and the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Currently in its 17th year, College Goal Sunday now is a volunteer-run, state-based organization that assists families — particularly those with lower incomes and first–generation students — in the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

“Too many families — particularly those of color, low income and no tradition of pursuing an education beyond high school — simply were not applying for financial aid and citing high cost as a barrier to pursuing a postsecondary education,” says Marcia Weston, NASFAA director of College Goal Sunday operations. “College Goal Sunday addresses these issues and is an opportunity for families to learn about their financial-aid options and receive expert assistance in filling out the paperwork required to qualify for that aid.”

Now funded by Lumina Foundation for Education and managed by NASFAA, the College Goal Sunday program asks that states interested in starting a program apply for a three-year seed grant with the understanding they become self-sustaining organizations following the grant period. During 2006, College Goal Sunday attendees filed 17,000 FAFSAs

Currently 25 states plus the District of Columbia offer the program with an additional nine states implementing programs in 2007. USA Funds provides support to College Goal Sunday programs in nine states and the District of Columbia to help parents and their college-bound children complete the FAFSA.

A USA Funds-provided grant of $40,000 helped support the second-annual College Goal Sunday training offered on July 4, the day before the opening of the NASFAA conference in Seattle.

“USA Funds supports College Goal Sunday as a way to promote access to higher education for all deserving students,” says Pat Roe, USA Funds manager of philanthropy. “The grant to support training allows volunteers to go back to their states and assist students in completing the financial-aid paperwork that brings them one step closer to realizing their dreams of a college education.”

Coordinators and volunteers from states that have active College Goal Sunday programs, as well as those that are in the planning phase, attended to learn how to successfully reach families within the target population. The forum helped state programs integrate evaluation results from the 2006 events into their plans for 2007. The event also provided strategies to help them with fund-raising campaigns that will sustain their programs when their seed grants end.

“This annual training day is an excellent opportunity to bring together those who have experience with College Goal Sunday and those who are new to the program to share their ideas, successes and best practices,” says Weston.