ETSU’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships is hosting a virtual FAFSA completion workshop to help students take advantage of available aid.

The workshop, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 5-9, will be held via Zoom. Students will register and select a timeslot between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. for a one-on-one session with a financial aid expert. Sessions last from 30 minutes to an hour.

(Photograph Contributed/ETSU)

“The FASFA is the students’ gateway, really, to all federal financial aid and is also the starting point for many state and school funding programs,” said O.J. Early, the communications coordinator for the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.

Last year, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship held an in-person FAFSA frenzy event to help students fill out the form. While the pandemic has caused the event to go virtual, it is not stopping financial aid experts from helping students and their parents.

“Because of COVID-19, as we all know, these are challenging times,” said Early. “We want to do all that we can do to reduce stress and make sure that students and their families have answers to their questions.”

The 2021-2022 FAFSA must be completed in order for students to receive financial aid such as the Pell Grant and Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarships.

Students must register for the FAFSA completion workshop and reserve their timeslot by Sept. 30. Students and their parents need to create an FSA ID prior to the meeting. Current and potential ETSU students and high school seniors are welcome to register.

“It’s also important students understand that there’s not an unlimited amount of federal and state aid out there,” said Early. “Some funding opportunities operate on a first come first serve basis. So, we say to students to file on or soon after October so that you don’t potentially miss out on any of these opportunities.”

For more information or to sign up for the FAFSA completion workshop, visit https://www.etsu.edu/finaid/events.php.