MCCC to Host NJ FAFSA Days at West Windsor and Trenton Campuses
2/17/20
West Windsor, N.J. – Whether you are just starting class or returning to school, Mercer County Community College (MCCC) is opening its West Windsor and James Kerney campuses for a series of events focused on streamlining the process to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Organized by MCCC’s Financial Aid Office in partnership with the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA), NJ FAFSA Days will provide free, professional assistance to current students and community members. In addition to Mercer, four other colleges – Ramapo College of New Jersey, Rowan College of South Jersey, Centenary University and Rutgers University, Newark – have sessions planned. Nottingham High School in Hamilton will also host an event.
“So many people have questions about filing but don’t know where to turn,” said Alice Chung, a Financial Aid Officer on MCCC’s West Windsor Campus. “We are trying to reach out to the sector of the community that doesn’t know there are opportunities to get help to return to school.”
Formerly known as “College Goal Sunday,” Chung noted that the shift to holding NJ FAFSA Days on Saturdays was more convenient for applicants.
“The community is much more active and vibrant on Saturdays than Sundays,” Chung said. “It’s much easier to motivate yourself to stop by a Saturday event than to attend one at the end of the weekend on a Sunday.”
The FAFSA form for the 2020-21 school year, released on Oct. 1, is an online form that must be submitted annually by current and prospective college students (undergraduate and graduate) to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid. To start the form, applicants will need:
- Social Security Number
- Alien Registration Number (if student is not a U.S. citizen)
- Federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned.
- (Note: Student may be able to transfer federal tax return information into FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.)
- Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
- Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
- An FSA ID to sign electronically.
If student is under age of 24, he/she will also need most of the above information for parent(s).
Having already hosted a series NJ FAFSA Days on both campuses, Mercer has the following NJ FAFSA Day scheduled at the West Windsor Campus: Saturday, Feb. 22 from 9 a.m. to noon in room AD233.
The date for the remaining James Kerney Campus event is: Saturday, Feb. 29 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room KC225.
“Filing the FAFSA can be daunting,” Chung said. “We want to ensure that everyone in our community has access to the professional help they need to get them back in the classroom.”
For more information about NJ FAFSA Days, visit NJFafsaDays.org
Last year more than 150 individuals signed up for the MCCC MLK Day of Service, which included preparing bag lunches for the Rescue Mission of Trenton.