Many students and their families are intimidated by the complicated forms and processes involved in applying for college financial aid. For the past 14 years, a program has helped Indiana students get the help they need to cross the paper barrier and qualify for financial aid. Founded in 1989 by the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association (ISFAA), College Goal Sunday was designed to assist first-generation, low-income and minority Indiana students and their parents or guardians in completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form correctly and on time to help students claim maximum financial aid awards to find a higher education. The FAFSA form is the financial aid form required by postsecondary education institutions nationwide.

On College Goal Sunday, financial aid professionals, primarily from Indiana universities and colleges, volunteer a few hours of their time to help students and their parents or guardians complete the FAFSA form. On Sunday, February 9, 2003, College Goal Sunday took place at 34 sites in Indiana, and ISFAA awarded three educational prizes worth $300 to students who attended College Goal Sunday and completed event evaluation forms.

Indiana's College Goal Sunday is a cooperative, charitable effort of the Indiana Student Financial Aid Association (ISFAA), in cooperation with the Indiana Career and Postsecondary Advancement Center (ICPAC), the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI), and the Office of Twenty-first Century Scholars. It is funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc., Lumina Foundation for Education and USA Funds, three Indiana-based non-profits with a particular interest in higher education.

Lumina Foundation and many other funders support other states' College Goal Sunday efforts. This year, College Goal Sunday programs were organized in Arizona (21 sites), Delaware (1), Hawaii (2), Indiana (34), Kansas (9), Kentucky (18), Maryland (11) Missouri (2), Ohio (16), Oklahoma (35), Washington, D.C (3) and Wyoming (1).

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For more information about Indiana's College Goal Sunday program visit http://www.CollegeGoalSunday.org.