FAFSA help available for Kansas students

(WICHITA, Kan.) — Anthony Ho is a Senior at South High in Wichita.  Already accepted to Washburn University, he's figuring out how he's going to pay for it.

"My sister and brother they did it in previous years and they were like its really long, strenuous. Its meticulous so, I was scared to do it," says Anthony Ho.

So scared, Anthony put off filling out the free application for federal student aid, or FAFSA, for months.

"Its vital to be able to pay for college so it makes a lot of parents and students really nervous," says teacher Courtney Bell.

Teacher Courtney Bell spends much of her spring semester helping students like Anthony.

"Filling in your tax information confuses students about the FAFSA because students aren't familiar with income taxes," says Courtney Bell.

Bell says one of the biggest mistakes students make is flipping their parents gross income and adjusted gross income,
putting decimals and commas in the wrong place or not filling it out at all.

"The FAFSA formula changes every year so we never know for sure if a student will qualify or won't qualify for student aid," says Bell.

This weekend, a local event will help students get the money they need.

College Goal Sunday gives parents and students the chance to fill out the FAFSA with one-on-one assistance.

Along with events like college goal sunday FAFSA is doing its part in making it easier for students to file, this year they redesigned their website.

"It can actually guess what you need to fill out, what you don't need to fill out," says Bell.

And it will alert students to mistakes.

Bell says making the FAFSA less complicated will also make it less scary.

And more approachable for future college students.

In Wichita this weekend, there are three locations for College Goal Sunday.