State Coordinator
Kathaerine Johnson
Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education
kjohnson@azhighered.gov

Program website: http://www.collegegoalsunday.com

Arizona’s College Goal Sunday & Saturday TOO! (CGS) Financial Literacy Initiative is a grant-funded statewide initiative that provides free information and professional assistance to Arizona students and families seeking financial aid. The Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE) has planned and coordinated the Initiative since 1996. The mission of the CGS initiative is to increase the number of first-generation college students entering postsecondary education. The goals of the College Goal Sunday Initiative are (1) to assist students and families in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and (2) to provide appropriate and timely communication regarding student financial aid. The CGS target audience is college-bound low income, minority, and first generation students/families and returning adults. There are two components to the initiative: (1) the event and (2) communication of student financial aid information. The annual event provides Arizona’s students and families access to financial aid professionals, counselors, and site staff on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in February to get assistance in completing and filing the at a time when the greatest amount of financial aid is available. Each year the CGS date is set in order to meet the early application filing deadlines of Arizona public universities. The communication of financial aid information precedes and follows the event. The objectives of the communication plan include informing students and families (1) about the availability of financial aid, (2) that the FAFSA is the single form that begins the process, and (3) the deadlines for filing the FAFSA. In addition, the communication plan is designed (4) to create an urgency to meet financial aid deadlines, (5) to drive traffic to the CGS website for information and online completion instructions, and (6) to encourage families in need of help beyond the website instructions to attend the CGS event.

FAFSA deadline for state
Friday, March 01, 2013

Sites