March 11, 2010

College Countdown Events Helped Hundreds of Students and Parents

OGSLP would like to thank the following schools that partnered with us to hold a College Countdown event during the month of February:

• East Central University
• Eastern Oklahoma State College
• Oklahoma State University (event rescheduled in April due to inclement weather)
• Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology
• Seminole State College
• Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Through this series of coordinated campus events, prospective students, parents and high school counselors received our new outreach materials and visited campuses to learn more about preparing financially for college. The events were a success, with nearly 500 attendees!

Marilyn Schwarz of East Central University had this to say about their College Countdown event:

“East Central University held a UCanGo2 College Event Night on February 16. In addition to filing the FAFSA online and learning about financial aid and scholarships, the parents and students received information from a variety of student service organizations, including the Educational Opportunity Center, Upward Bound, Native American Voices Program, and Career Development. Parents and students were appreciative of the wealth of information available and especially liked the UCanGo2 FAFSA FAQs and high school checklists.”

Mimi Kelley of Eastern Oklahoma State College also had a great College Countdown experience:

“… I appreciate all the information, materials and support we received for our financial aid events. Students may not realize at this moment how much the information will benefit them, but I believe the families appreciate any financial aid information they receive while they are preparing their students for college.”

Interested in hosting a College Countdown event at your campus? Click the button below and we’ll send you an event planning packet to help you get started. No need to wait until next February; host your own College Countdown event at anytime during the year!

We also offer helpful instructional tools to support your events, such as our UCanGo2 FAFSA 101 course packages, which have been updated to reflect the 2010-2011 FAFSA! The course package includes:

• PowerPoint presentations for two courses - FAFSA Fundamentals and Focus on the FAFSA.
• Helpful instructor guides, including recommended talking points, for both courses.
• Informative session handouts.

Additionally, OGSLP will provide event materials, banners and cool promotional items for your campus event, and sponsorship funds may be available to help offset the cost. For more information, contact our UCanGo2 Campus Events Coordinator, Shelley Sanderson, at 405.234.4484, 800.240.0420 (toll-free) or ssanderson@ogslp.org.

We look forward to helping more campuses host UCanGo2 College Countdown events throughout the year!