White County Schools will be offering free FAFSA assistance Thursday to families with seniors in the class of 2026.
College Advisor Suzanne Rushing said the school system will have experts available to answer questions and to help parents fill out FAFSA forms. Rushing said many parents struggle to fill out the forms.
“Sometimes parents this is the first time that their student has filed a FAFSA,” Rushing said. “Maybe they haven’t filed one for themselves personally, so it’s just a brand new process. So we want to help parents be able to have someone, have trained professionals that can be here to help them walk them through the process of completing the parent part.”
Rushing said parents who work full-time jobs also struggle with finding the time to fill out the form for their child.
Rushing said the April 15 FAFSA deadline is quickly approaching and that Thursday would be a great opportunity for parents to complete the form early.
“I believe it’s really important to do it now as soon as possible,” Rushing said. “That way just in case there is some type of issue, perhaps it’s unknown, that way a parent or a family has plenty of time to get that issue solved and have that turned by April 15.”
Rushing said many people say if a family makes too much money, they should not bother with filling out the FAFSA form for their child. Rushing said that idea is simply a myth.
“Any student regardless of income who wants to be considered for yes, federal but also state aid like Tennessee Promise and the HOPE Scholarship here in the state of Tennessee as well as just collegiate financial aid, they need to submit a FAFSA. That helps them learn if they are gonna be eligible to receive those grants, scholarships, work-study funds, and then loans at a lower interest rate if they were to need that.”
Rushing said parents should bring an electronic device like a laptop, an FSA ID, and their 2023 tax return. Rushing said bringing those items should make receiving the assistance only take about 20-30 minutes. Rushing said the help is first come first serve. Rushing said parents can request individual appointments if they are unable to attend.
White County Schools will be offering FAFSA help on Thursday from 5pm-7pm at the White County High School Library.
