How Parents Can Learn with their Children about Financial Aid

14Mar
by Evangelina Núñez

A few weeks ago, I attended a community Zoom event for parents and students held by East San Jose council member Magdalena Carrasco. She shared information about financial aid and how we can make college a reality for our students. Knowledge like this is so important because, as parents, we need to be informed about how we can help our children in their college aspirations. We especially need to learn, alongside our kids, about how to fill out the FAFSA application and the Dream Act application for students with DACA.

As parents, we don’t always know how our children can receive financial assistance for college. Many times, our children are just as confused as we are about financial aid. That’s why this workshop by Councilmember Carrasco is so critical because it empowers us to learn about these applications and know-how to answer questions when our children need help. There’s a lot of information that goes into financial aid applications and it’s also a very long process. By being able to sit with your children and do it together, it makes the whole process less scary and difficult. This workshop was especially informative for the 11th and 12th-grade students because they’re at a point where they have to think about these things. 

While this event was helpful, it only scratches the surface and I hope councilmember Carrasco does more workshops like this that involve both parents and students. In fact, I hope elected officials everywhere consider providing this type of community support. Many parents want to encourage their kids to go to college, but they just don’t know how to and it’s frustrating for them. Workshops like this make it easier for us to motivate our kids.

And don’t forget, there are so many local, state, and federal scholarships our children can apply to. In addition to attending workshops, we can do our own research! For instance, in my community, I found scholarships with the Spanish foundation of Silicon Valley. It takes time to learn about these resources, but it’s totally worth it if your students can get financial help with college.

The FAFSA application is still open! You must submit your FAFSA form by June 30th, 2022 and all updates must be made by September 10th, 2022. Fill out the form as soon as possible at the links below. 

http://studentaid.com/?fbclid=IwAR3f8HrPPsq5ep6E26fLLBTdDtydhQdLD-YpJsO2ntrYpgUxXvsIhSJlFxo

https://dream.csac.ca.gov/landing?fbclid=IwAR25i2EhDDrDpBbTSdOdzMRf75qzaYq3RuNFUGGjLHsmhRtr36S3nRm4ayg

Finally, a huge thank you to Magdalena Carrasco and her Team!

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Evangelina Núñez

Evangelina Núñez is a Latina mom leader from Zacatecas Mexico, she lives in San Jose, CA with her family, her husband and three children, two daughters and one son. She graduated from the High School Escuela Popular in East San Jose, because of her bad experience in her education. When she was young she decided to study child development and her goal is to be able to help as a teacher's assistant recently she became interested in studying topics that have to do with children with special needs. She is a founding mom at Kipp Navigate high school in East side San Jose. She is a believer 100% of school choice and high quality education she is a member of the santa clara charter school collision, her children attend Rocketship Mateo Sheedy, Kipp Heritage and now Kipp Navigate , she is very involved in all the school she go also she is part of KFA (the kipp family association), she knows first hand the education and believes that the involvement of parents involved is essential in the daily life of a student.

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