AZ FAF$A Challenge
September 2020
FAFSA Season is Right Around the Corner...
The AZ FAF$A Challenge will officially commence on October 1st when the 2021-2022 FAFSA becomes available. This will be the program's third year since its inauguration during the 2018-2019 school year. We are excited to begin another year promoting FAFSA completion among Arizona high school seniors while highlighting all of the great work in FAFSA completion that is happening throughout the state. With a 52% FAFSA completion goal for this 2020-2021 school year, the AZ FAF$A Challenge program intends to inspire statewide efforts to assist our high school seniors with one of the most important applications that they will complete in their senior year.
AzCAN and Benji Partnership
The AZ FAF$A Challenge is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Arizona College Access Network (AZCAN) and Benji, the FAFSA Chat-bot to assist with promoting FAFSA completion statewide and providing some new and exciting competition incentives to our students, high school counselors and staff.
AzCAN and Benji will be providing five (5) $500 student scholarships between October and February. Any high school that wins the title of AZ FAF$A Challenge “Monthly Innovative Player” during the 2020-21 academic year, will have the opportunity for one of their seniors to receive a $500 scholarship sponsored by AzCAN and Benji! The AZ FAF$A Challenge program awards an Arizona high school each month from October-February for their school's innovative best practices in FAFSA completion. The October 2020 Innovative Player nomination form will be available on October 1st!
In addition, our new partners will also be awarding counselors with three (3) FREE College Access Professional (CAP) courses for our MVP-highest FAFSA completion rate and Most Improved FAFSA completion rate winning schools. Two counselors from each winning school can take up to three CAP courses that count towards continuing education credits.
2020 FAFSA Kick-Off Virtual Event
Please join the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona Governor’s Office of Education and College Success Arizona in a statewide 2020 FAFSA Kick-Off on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Kick-Off activities commence at 9:30 AM and conclude at 11:30 AM.
Superintendent Kathy Hoffman and Governor Doug Ducey will speak on their aspirations for this new FAFSA season. Participants will learn about the new statewide FAFSA completion goal, hear best practices, and obtain tangible resources for virtually supporting their students and families with the FAFSA. Furthermore, participants will hear from practitioners around the Valley on ways to increase student and family engagement in all of their FAFSA workshops and outreach events.
College Goal Arizona Resource Page
In order to support more high school students during this time of social distancing, the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education collected information from various postsecondary institutions within the state to create a virtual resources page on the College Goal Arizona website. This page will serve as a centralized resource for counselors, college access professionals, and students to find and get connected with FAFSA and college application assistance state-wide.
After the FAFSA Webinar
Join the ACPE on September 24, 2020 from 10:30am-11:30am, to learn all about the next steps once a FAFSA is completed including: analyzing the confirmation page, Student Aid Report, financial aid awards, and types of Financial Aid.
Contact Us
Email: azcpe2@gmail.com
Website: FAFSAChallenge.az.gov
Location: 2020 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ, USA
Phone: 602-542-7230
Facebook: facebook.com/collegegoalaz
Twitter: @collegegoalaz