The Office of Student Aid and Scholarships will be breaking new ground this month by organizing several events to promote financial aid awareness.
“We want to enable students to attain the financial resources they need to pay for college in as stress-free environment as possible,” said Student Aid Officer Jason Orgeron, who is fronting the campaign.
Orgeron said 50 percent of the LSU student body has loans, and 76 percent has some type of aid. This amounted to $45.6 million in aid resources for the 2003-2004 school year.
“Students think they’re not eligible for financial aid,” Orgeron said. “It’s not that they are not eligible, they just had an error in their FAFSA, which is what we want to help.”
The OSAS will be staffing table sits all month to answer questions about their Free Application for Federal Student Aid. On Feb. 26 and 27, OSAS will staff computer labs in Coates Hall and the Union so that students can fill out their FAFSA and have questions answered immediately.
There’s really no way to know how many scholarships are out there, Orgeron said. Students will have the best chances in their school of study, or they can come to the office, located in 202 Himes Hall, where staff members can go through everything with them.
The FAFSA application takes about 30 minutes to fill out if the student has all the required information, Orgeron said.
Orgeron said students need their last pay stub, tax return or W2 form to answer the financial questions.
He said after the student answers all the financial and demographic questions they will be required to either print out a page to sign and mail to FAFSA, or apply for a pin number.
A pin number allows the student to keep a personal account with FAFSA. As an identity theft precaution, the pin number is mailed through the Post Office instead of sent over the Internet, Orgeron said.
According to the OSAS schedule, the first of 13 awareness events will be held at Tigers After 10 this Friday.
Tigers After 10, a monthly event held at the Union between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., is joining OSAS this month to host several means of entertainment, chances to win prizes such as OSAS’s version of Let’s Make a Deal and LSU Idol, and free food.
Orgeron said about $500 worth of items have been donated by The Chimes Restaurant, Chimes Textbook Exchange, Eutopia Hair Salon, Hibernia, Nellie Mae and Serrano’s.
“I’m excited about helping students get the funds that are out there and try to have some fun while we are at it,” said Jason Meier, assistant director of programs for Union Programs.
OSAS will have tables open throughout the night so students can ask questions about FAFSA and financial aid, Orgeron said.
The next eight events will be held Feb. 9, 10, 16 and 17, where Orgeron will visit campus residence halls and present information about financial aid along with prizes.
Tables will be set up in CEBA and the Vet School Feb. 12 and 18 as another opportunity for OSAS to hand out brochures, give out treats and allow students to ask questions.
The month will conclude with two public access labs in Coates Hall and the Union from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. so students can fill out the FAFSA with the assistance of OSAS staff.
“Everything is pushing for the last two nights,” Orgeron said. “We’ve never done anything like this before, but we hope to start doing it every year.”
Orgeron said these dates are not deadlines, but priority dates so students can complete the process for the fall before the summer vacation when it will be harder to get done.