The Rochester Education Foundation is hosting a city-wide FAFSA Fest this weekend aimed at high school seniors looking for guidance on filling out college financial aid forms.
For Phil Hounshell, director of college access and success programs at the Rochester Education Foundation, it’s personal.
Hounshell, a graduate of Wilson High School in the Rochester City School District, said his parents encouraged him to pursue higher education.
“Even though neither of them had a college education at the time, they made sure that we understood that education was like the passport to the future,” Hounshell said. “So, I try to make sure that other students and other families know that as well."
Those who come to the event on Saturday at the Rochester Central Library can expect to be greeted by student ambassadors to help navigate the application, he said.
“They've learned FAFSA and the financial aid process, and they are able to help some of their older peers to complete that process as well,” he said. “You can expect to get one-on-one support with financial aid. You can expect to get your questions answered, and hopefully, you can expect to maximize what the government is able to give you while they're able to give it to you.”
Amy Stein, executive director of the foundation, said so far more than 100 students already have started their financial aid application forms through similar events this fall. She added that the ultimate goal isn’t just helping students from Rochester pursue college degrees.
“It’s for them to be happy, for them to be excited about what's next for them after high school, so that they are able to get a job that doesn't just make it so they're living paycheck to paycheck, but so that they have growth in that job," Stein said. "So that they have financial independence, and so that they can get back to their community and be happy.”
This weekend’s FAFSA Fest is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Kate Gleason room of Rochester Central Library’s Bausch & Lomb Building at 115 South Ave.
Future FAFSA Fest events:
- Oct. 22 at Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School
- Oct. 28 at Rochester Education Foundation
- Oct. 30 at School of the Arts
- Nov. 3 at Rochester Early College International High School
- Nov. 6 at Wilson High School
- Nov. 6 at Padilla High School
