Countdown to College events in New Hanover County Oct. 9 and 12
Laney High School hosts a parent info session Oct. 9, with a repeat hosted by Hoggard Oct. 12.
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Two high schools in New Hanover County will host identical college prep courses this week — not for students, but for parents.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has proclaimed October Countdown to College Month in the Tarheel State, and the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) is ready to present important information at the parent meetings this week.
“A lot of seniors are a little stressed right now…. but we have their back,” explained CFNC Representative Brittany Privott during a conversation on Good Morning Carolina with co-host Donna Gregory.
“We’ll be talking about ways to pay for college including the FAFSA, residency and also scholarships so it will be a really, really informative event for families trying to figure out how to pay for college,” she added.
FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the form required to be considered for federal and many other types of financial aid at US Colleges and Universities.
The first session is Monday, Oct. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Emsley A. Laney High School, 2700 N. College Rd. in Wilmington.
A second session covering the same information is scheduled Thursday, Oct. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the media center of John T. Hoggard High School, 4305 Shipyard Blvd. in Wilmington.
“October 16th starts Countdown to College Week, which is free application week, and if students apply to colleges that are waiving their fees that week on CFNC, their application will be free.”
The colleges taking part are listed on CFNC.org, and Privott said students must apply through the CFNC website in order to have the application fee waived the week of Oct. 16 – 20, 2023.
One of the first things students will see when they visit that site is how to prove residency in the state of North Carolina, in order to avoid paying much higher out-of-state prices.
“There is a very big difference percentagewise between in-state and out-of-state tuition here in North Carolina – it’s almost 40%, ” Privott explained.
“The students have to go through the NC residency determination service to be deemed an in-state student to receive that discount, and to also receive state grant dollars so it’s really important that they do that before they apply to colleges in North Carolina.”
Privott says there are steps parents can take prior to the release date of the next FAFSA, which has been moved from October to December.
The first thing is to create a free CFNC account, which is tied to the state Department of Public Instruction.
“Public school students will need their Power School number, they’ll set up a free CFNC account, then they can set up residency, they can set up their FSA I-D, which is their log in and password for the FAFSA,” Privott explained.
They can find more information about that process here.
“And they can access any applications here in the state of North Carolina through their CFNC account, so it’s kind of a one-stop-shop,” she offered.
The FAFSA opening has been moved to December to comply with the FAFSA Simplification Act, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act which Congress passed at the end of 2021.
