Filing a FAFSA is always lauded as being the first step to accessing scholarship and grant money for education expenses. However, filing your taxes is a prerequisite to completing the FAFSA if you plan on reporting actual (not estimated) income numbers. Based upon this, wouldn’t it make since to accomplish both in one swift action? The National Community Tax Coalition thinks so.
The National Community Tax Coalition (NCTC) states that students who fill out the FAFSA are 50% more likely to attend college versus those that don’t. In order to help more first generation students make their way to college, the NCTC has implemented a program that will help students not only complete their FAFSA but also help them file their taxes. The program is called Financial Aid U and a website has been set up as a resource to help guide families to where they can receive Tax and FAFSA help.
Last year, NCTC partnered up with seven different organizations to provide their services and this current year they will have over 10 partner programs in place. Here is a list of the organizations providing Tax and FAFSA filing assistance:
- Baltimore CASH Campaign
- Boston EITC Campaign
- Campaign for Working Families
- Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
- Center for Economic Progress
- The Financial Clinic
- Health & Welfare Council of Long Island
- Human Services Coalition of Miami
- Mission Economic Development Agency
- Newark Now
Kudos to NCTC for putting their resources to good use and helping to make college more accessible and affordable for families and students.
NCTC is looking for additional community tax preparers to train on the FAFSA filing process. So, if anyone is interested in helping to expand their mission and outreach you should definitely drop them a line.
