College Fairs, Scholarships Offered to Bridgewater-Raritan Students

Bridgewater, NJ -- The third marking period of the school year is coming to a close on April 19 and with that the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District is reminding students of upcoming college fairs and other information.

• Somerville High School College Fair

Somerville High School will be hosting its annual college fair on Wednesday, March 30, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in its gym. All are welcome to attend. For more information, contact the Somerville High School Counseling Office at 908-431-6600.

• NACAC National College Fair

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) will be hosting its annual college fair on Wednesday, April 20, and Thursday, April 21 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center at Harmon Meadows in Secaucus. NACAC will also be hosting a college fair on Sunday, April 24, at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. For more information, visit www.nationalcollegefairs.org and/or to register visit www.gotomyncf.com.

• Changes to College Admissions

Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, will be hosting a “Changes to College Admissions” program on Wednesday, May 25, at 7 p.m.. The program will focus on the changes that affect students in the Class of 2017 an beyond which include the redesigned SAT, the Coalition Application, and the Prior-Prior year FAFSA. For more information, contact the Ridge High School Counseling Department at 908.204.2585.

• Scholarships

Scholarships are available through Naviance – Family Connection. Scholarships will be posted through Family Connection as well as on the High School Website. In addition, Naviance provides access to National Scholarships. Applications for traditional local scholarships for BRHS students (community organizations, etc.) will be made available through Naviance in the spring.

The April Scholarship bulletin is currently posted on the school website. Click on “Scholarship Information” under School Counseling on the high school website to view the bulletin.

For additional information regarding the college planning process, visit the school counseling website for a variety of resources.

• Financial Aid

The U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid provides over $80 billion annually in financial assistance for college. Students, parents, and borrowers are required to create a FSA ID, made up of a username and password, to access certain U.S. Department of Education websites. The FSA ID is used to confirm the user’s identity when accessing financial aid information and electronically signing federal student aid documents.

If you are a parent of a dependent student, you will need your own FSA ID if you want to sign your child's FAFSA electronically. If you have more than one child attending college, you can use the same FSA ID to sign all applications.

To create a FSA ID, please visit https://fsaid.ed.gov/npas/index.htm. Students are encouraged to apply for financial aid as soon as possible after Jan. 1. Please be sure that when completing the forms you are filing for the 2016-2017 school year.

To learn more about financial aid, visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/.

To complete the FAFSA, visit https://fafsa.ed.gov/.