Feel free to comment at the end of this article.

Financial Aid Awareness Month is over, but it’s not too late for students to cash in.

Billie Jo Hamilton, director of SIUC’s Financial Aid Office, said the deadline for financial aid applications is April 1. Hamilton said students should fill out their FAFSA forms to ensure they receive all the money they deserve.

“We have some financial aid that we get from the federal government that is a pool,” she said. “Once we start giving it out, it’s gone.”

Hamilton said February was designated for helping students and families learn what they need to do to receive financial aid. She said she has only been here a few years, but the university has raised awareness for a long time.

The Financial Aid Office is located on the fourth floor of Woody Hall, and outreach coordinator Kesha Williams said students seeking help with overwhelming FAFSA forms are welcome to stop by.

“We’re always here to help and students should feel comfortable coming to the Financial Aid Office and asking questions about the package,” she said.

Scholarships are also an important part of paying for school, Hamilton said. She said students should put energy into searching for scholarships because money is wasted when students don’t apply.

“We link, on our website, to a couple of scholarship search programs,” she said. “Don’t pay a fee for any kind of service like that because it’s free.”

Williams said there would be a loan consolidation workshop sometime in April. She said the workshop would aim to help inform students of various ways to consolidate their loans. She said it would focus on individual situations to create the best plan for each student.

“With soaring tuition costs and students having to borrow more and more, that’s a really huge concern,” she said. “Especially when they get out into the real world, trying to manage both their paycheck, their rent and then also paying back their loans.”

Tessa Newhart, a senior from Olmsted, said she hasn’t been accepted to receive financial aid, but she is glad the university is trying to spread information about filing for it.

“I’m glad the university is making us aware of it, because if we weren’t aware of it, then that’s just money that’s there and we don’t know about it,” she said. “I’m glad they’re being cooperative about it, even though I didn’t get it.”

[email protected] 536-3311 ext. 268