Buckingham County High School students and families met Oct. 26 for a Super Free Application for Federal student Aid (FAFSA) Project Event. According to a press release, the event featured interactive workshops designed to help students fill out the FAFSA, which is used by colleges, universities and career-technical schools across the country to determine eligibility for federal financial aid.

“Attendees were treated to a pizza dinner before they began work on their FAFSAs,” officials said in the release. “Educational Credit Management Corporation (ECMC), the Department of Financial Aid at Longwood University and the school counseling staff at Buckingham County High School partnered to assist students and parents in creating their FSA ID -— a username and password that allows students and parents to identify themselves electronically to access Federal Student Aid websites.”

The release cited that there were as many anxieties as there were questions, but the staff on hand was there to help navigate both.

“In addition to the hands-on information, Virginia’s ECMC Scholars Advisor Olaniyi Lucas provided students with an Opportunities Book, which includes federal and state school codes and definitions of terms that often trip students up in the college application process,” officials said in the release. “The book features a variety of worksheets covering a myriad of topics, including the application process, choosing the right school and navigating the financial aid process.”

According to the release, also included were “to-do” checklists for high school juniors and seniors.

“This event was a component of the 1-2-3 Go! program, an initiative of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) and nonprofit ECMC,” officials said in the release. “The Oct. 26 Super FAFSA event helped students learn how to ‘Pay,’ which is the third step in 1-2-3-Go! Virginia’s Three Steps to College initiative: prepare, apply and pay.”

The release cited that as students completed their FAFSAs, their names were entered into a drawing to be submitted to SCHEV for a statewide scholarship. Buckingham County High School has set its sights high for FAFSA completions, with a goal of 70 percent completion in the 2018 graduating class. This event helped raise the hash mark up to 17 percent – a great start since the FAFSA has only been available since Oct. 1.

“Buckingham County High School is one of eight schools across the commonwealth that participates in the ECMC Scholars Program, a rigorous two-year mentoring program that allows select students to access up to $6,000 in scholarships for college,” officials said in the release. “Current ECMC Scholars students at Buckingham County High School will be on-hand at the event to assist with presentations and logistics.”

Since 2005, ECMC has provided $7.6 million to 1,500 ECMC Scholars students in Virginia — on average, 100 students per year from eight public high schools across the commonwealth.