Financial aid night helps save money at BHS

On Monday, January 4th at 6:30 pm, 150 students and parents filed into the BCPA with a pamphlet in their hand for Financial Aid Night. Although most wouldn’t beam with excitement about the thought of expensive schooling, some might sit back to consider the benefits of saving money. Financial Aid Night has been going on for six years and this night was much different from previous years.

Organized by counselor Jody Petit, the first part of the night consisted of Carrie Gilchrist, financial aid outreach advisor from Oakland University, talking about ways to avoid breaking the bank.

Gilchrist was one of the night’s highlights with her humor about the process and outgoing demeanor. With her light-hearted energy, she left a good first impression on the attendees.

“She was very comical about the whole thing, which made it very enjoyable,” parent Carol House said.

Along with her energy came helpful tips about loans and how to pay them off, how to file a FAFSA and answering individual questions. She also touched on different programs and websites connected with financial aid. There isn’t one way to get financial aid because of every school’s unique programs and process for providing financial aid. But she had one important piece of advice was for parents and students alike; it is imperative that students and parents work together when doing anything financially with college. It’s important for students to learn how to take care of their money and investments, rather than parents saying they will take care of everything.

But when anyone dreams of college, most think of saving money early on. This of course, was an obvious point Gilchrist brought up during her speech. But she made a point that money shouldn’t be standing in the way of an education.

“She proved there’s always money available, you just have to know where to look,” Petit said.

The second half of the night was brand new, and drew in those who stayed. In applying for the financial aid process, chromebooks were brought out to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. Colleges use the FAFSA information to determine how much financial aid each college can provide a student. Gilchrist assured that filling out a FAFSA was not as hard as people may think, and to not be intimidated by it. With her guidance, learning how to file a FAFSA was very helpful and a big hit. Students and parents were able to participate and they also learned about the CSS form for private schools.

“I liked seeing that my grade and people in the grade below me are taking initiative to go to college,” senior Caroline Roberts said.

Article by: Rachel Matuszewski