AzCAN News & Updates

March 2024

A Quick Guide to Financial Aid Award Letters

In a typical FAFSA year, students would have already received admissions letters, and financial aid packages would soon follow. These offers – often referred to as award letters – are sure to spark conversations about college affordability between students, families, and college attainment professionals. Read more here to learn how to best educate your students and families about the types of financial aid and how to help them make informed decisions.

Upcoming Events & Opportunities

Don't Miss the Final 1:1 FAFSA Workshop!

We are proud to be one of 15 NCAN partners selected to host FREE FAFSA and financial aid advising office hours for students and families around the US. We are hosting our final workshop on March 23 at the Capital One Cafe in Scottsdale Fashion Square between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Encourage students and families you work with to not miss out on this last 1:1 FAFSA workshop with trained Ask Benji and AZ FAFSA Coalition staff members.

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March Lunch and Learn

Join us on March 27 for the final Lunch & Learn of the 2023-2024 series, which will be led by Emily Brown and Andrea Glenn with ADE and geared toward ECAP requirements and the submission process.

Save Your Spot

AZ Counselor Spring Training Virtual Event

Thursday, April 25 from 10am-12pm

National and state presenters will offer tools and insight around FAFSA completion, supporting ALL students through an unusually long application cycle, and establishing strategies to celebrate the incredible resilience and hard work of the class of 2024.

Save Your Spot

NCAN Annual Spring Institute

This year’s Spring Institute theme is “Pursuing Effective Advising for Every Student”. Join educators from across the nation as NCAN showcases a number of webinars, blog posts, and brown bag sessions at no cost for members and non-members!

• April 15: Five Actions to Help School Districts Deliver Effective Postsecondary Advising

• April 16: What Are States Learning About Effective Advising?

• April 17: In It Together - How Partnerships of All Shapes and Sizes Support Students' Pathways

•April 18: How Equitable Advising is Addressing the Declining Rate of Young Men in College

Jenn's Corner

Updates for Parents Without an SSN

While the U.S. Department of Education is making critical improvements to the FSA ID creation process for those without SSNs, a listserv has been established for students and families impacted by these issues to sign up for regular updates on the FAFSA.

Encourage your affected students and families to sign up by going to the listserv page or by sending an email to FAFSAContributorUpdates@ed.gov.

The National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) has created a directory of college enrollment deadlines based on shifts that have taken place due to the dynamics associated with the 2024-2025 FAFSA. This directory can be a helpful tool when working with students who are trying to make fall 2024 commitment decisions.

FAFSA Priority Dates Extended

Given the delays and challenges with the FAFSA, the Arizona Board of Regents, ASU, NAU, and UArizona extended FAFSA priority deadlines to May 1. ABOR also extended the FAFSA priority deadline to May 1 for the Arizona Program which provides free tuition and fees to eligible students to attend any of our three state universities. Learn more here.

CAP Training Courses

The spring 2024 CAP Training courses are open for registration. Completion of the four Financial Aid CAP courses result in an Arizona Financial Aid Specialist certification through AzCAN - register for your classes now!

NCAN FAFSA Challenges and Workarounds Page

NCAN launched a new webpage to share current updates to challenges, issues, and workarounds users are experiencing with the FAFSA - check regularly, as it will be updated often!

To make sure you have the most current tools and resources, be sure to access the 2024-2025 FAFSA Resource Hub, which is consistently updated with comprehensive resources curated from:

• Federal Student Aid (FSA)

• National College Attainment Network (NCAN)

• Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR)

• Arizona College Access Network (AzCAN)

• Ask Benji

• Additional national partners

El Valle Puede Celebration

Monday, April 8 from 9:00 to 12:00

Footprint Center

The Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury Foundation and Helios Education Foundation invite all Arizona high schools to celebrate graduating seniors at the El Valle Puede Celebration to tip-off the 2024 Arizona Decision Day.

This free event includes a resource fair for students, Phoenix Suns entertainment, special guests, and a live concert!