Cumberland County Schools staff outline FAFSA changes, $25,000 grant and planned application nights

A Cumberland County Schools presenter said the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has changed and described local efforts to help families complete the updated application.

The presenter (name not specified), a high school accountant with Cumberland County Schools, told attendees that the FAFSA opened earlier than expected after beta testing and that the application now includes features intended to help special populations such as students who are homeless, in foster care or undocumented. "The FAFSA changed last year," the presenter said, adding that the form is "basically there to help determine the financial aid that you're eligible to receive, which includes grants, scholarships, work study funds, and loans."

Why it matters: Completing the FAFSA remains the gateway to federal grants such as the Pell Grant and other federal and state aid. The presenter emphasized that FAFSA is how students access scholarships and grants, not just loans, and that more Pell Grant money is available under the new FAFSA rules.

The presenter walked through the documents families will need and the new account steps: both parent and student must create an FSA ID at studentaid.gov, and applicants should have a Social Security card or green card, 2023 federal tax forms (many filers can link to the IRS), and a personal email address. The presenter warned that new account registrations can take one to three days to process and said the federal site lists remaining glitches users may encounter.

Local supports and a foundation grant: The presenter said she and Britney Raines, Career and College Pathways coordinator in CTE, applied for and were awarded a $25,000 grant from the John M. Belk Foundation for a "FAFSA Strong" initiative. "We were awarded $25,000 to basically support FAFSA application initiatives," she said. The funding will support about five or six FAFSA application nights, partnerships with Fayetteville Technical Community College and Fayetteville State University, and mobile assistance: Fayetteville Tech will run a bus to high school locations during February. The presenter said the program hopes to offer stipends to pay staff who help at those events and to provide small scholarship drawings for students who attend (she said scholarship amounts would range "anywhere from $2.50 to $500"). Dates are being finalized and will be coordinated with Dr. Whitley and his group.

Resources and outreach: The presenter pointed to studentaid.gov, the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) scholarship search, state grants including the Next NC Scholarship and the North Carolina needs-based scholarship for private college students, and a CFNC webinar as places families can get more information. She described a 40-page FAFSA guide intended for school counselors that she said would also be useful for parents and students.

Special populations: The presenter noted extra resources on the FAFSA platform for applicants without Social Security numbers, homeless students, foster youth and some undocumented students. She encouraged families not to avoid the application out of privacy concerns, saying much of the information is already known to government agencies and that completing the FAFSA can unlock aid that makes two years of community college effectively free for eligible students.

The presenter closed by urging widespread outreach and myth-busting about the FAFSA’s purpose and privacy protections; she said Cumberland County Schools plans to push the upcoming events through district channels once dates are finalized.