Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC hosts College Goal Oregon at four locations

Photos and story by James Hill

PORTLAND, Ore. – Filling out federal financial aid forms can be a daunting task, but there’s help available at the upcoming College Goal Oregon Day.

On Saturday, Jan. 20, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at several PCC locations, Oregon will have its first coordinated statewide effort to help students and families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the required application for most need-based federal, state and campus-based financial aid.

This year’s sites will be the Cascade (705 N. Killingsworth St.), Rock Creek (17705 N.W. Springville Rd.) and Sylvania (12000 S.W. 49th Ave.) campuses, and the Southeast Center (2305 S.E. 82nd Ave.) A team of trained PCC volunteers, including financial aid professionals, will provide assistance and support in person. Help will include filling out the worksheet, submitting the FAFSA online, and receiving confirmation that the final FAFSA has been processed.

Students should bring their parents (if possible), fill out the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov, social security numbers, birth dates, financial aid pin number, statement of income for 2006 and current value of assets. Any student wanting to fill out the FAFSA can come to PCC to get one-on-one assistance in filling out the form, regardless of where they plan to go to college. In addition to federal financial aid, full- and part-time students will be automatically considered for an Oregon Opportunity Grant through the Oregon Student Assistance Commission.

PCC advisors will provide personalized assistance to future college students with completion of their form as well as provide scholarship workshops throughout the day to help students find dollars for school. Spanish language advisors will be available at Rock Creek, Cascade and Sylvania campuses.

Tigard’s Rocio Ceja-Roman attended last year’s event and was able to get financial aid to help her go back to college. Ceja-Roman is a single-parent who struggled with college cost until she was granted aid by filling out the FAFSA form. By being able to afford college, Ceja-Roman hopes to enroll in a nursing program by 2008. Read her story here.

“It was great,” she said of College Goal Oregon. “A staff member helped me when I had questions. I was nervous at first, but the financial aid day last year was very helpful. The amount of money I received as a result of it has helped me to pay for half of my credits. I tell people I take one class and get one for free.”

This event is part of the national College Goal Sunday program that aims to help students access the millions of financial aid dollars. The program started in Indiana in 1989 and has spread to more than 30 states. The Oregon Student Assistance Commission (link www.GetCollegeFunds.org) is the state agency that partners with numerous private donors, the Oregon Community Foundation, The Ford Family Foundation, and financial institutions to administer more than 340 private scholarship programs for Oregon students. The agency manages the Oregon Opportunity Grant and other financial aid programs for specific student populations.

“To me this event was 100 percent valuable,” said Ceja-Roman.

For more information, please visit College Goal Oregon at www.collegegoaloregon.org.

Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon, serving approximately 88,200 full- and part-time students. For more PCC news, please visit us on the Web at www.pcc.edu/news. PCC has three comprehensive campuses, five workforce training and education centers, and 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.