Deadline nears for lottery scholarship applications
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“Our concern at this point is that parents may not have completed the necessary paperwork because they believed the school would be able to take care of that. In fact, we can’t even verify a student’s grades unless the student has already completed and submitted the FAFSA,” said high school senior counselor Dr. Keri McGiboney.
Beginning with the 2004-2005 academic year, the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program will sponsor five different scholarships or awards, the most well-known of these being the HOPE Scholarship.
To receive any of the five awards, students must first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, regardless of one’s income.
FAFSA hard copies can be obtained at the high school, although results from the paper copies can take up to six weeks to receive. McGiboney recommends using the online form, which yields results much faster. Typical online turnaround, she said, is about three weeks. As noted above, a May 1 priority deadline is in effect for the first-come, first-serve scholarships, meaning students need to be completing the FAFSA by next week at the latest.
“We don’t want anyone to miss out on lottery dollars because he or she misses the deadline,” she said.
McGiboney noted that even those who have not yet completed their 2003 tax returns can still complete the FAFSA as the form allows applicants to estimate their income now and correct it later.
Online FAFSA forms can be completed at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Any student who does not have access to a computer can complete the form in the high school library.
Also necessary for nearly all of the lottery scholarships is completion of the ACT. The ACT will next be given at the high school April 3. The latest a student can register for the test is today.
A student’s FAFSA and ACT information will be automatically forwarded to lottery and school officials.