College Goal Sunday offers advice, money to families

DENVER - Andrew Barwin stares at the stack of paperwork. He knows it's confusing. But, it can also be a big help towards a college diploma.

"The way things are right now, I think it's important to, if there's money available, to definitely take grasp of it and take advantage of the opportunities that are laid off before you," said Barwin.

Barwin is attending College Goal Sunday with his parents and grandparents in tow.

"My family supports me and they thought this would be a good idea and I agreed with them," said Barwin.

College Goal Sunday is a nationwide effort to help parents and students get their financial air paperwork in order. In Colorado, organizers estimate they helped more than 5,000 families at 15 different locations with the help of 250 financial aid specialists volunteering their time.

"It gives folks one place to go to not only get their questions answered, but to also have an opportunity to actually sit down, fill out the form, apply online," said Jeff Gregory, statewide coordinator for College Goal Sunday. "This year, probably more than any other, we're gonna see a lot more folks because the declining economy situation."

At each location, a drawing was held to give one student at each spot a $1,000 scholarship just for showing up. The money was donated by CollegeInvest, a not-for-profit division of the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

Gregory also offered financial advice during a session attended by several hundred people.

"Things like how can you make that money stretch as far as you can," said Gregory.

He suggests students should purchase used books whenever possible. If you live on campus, tailor your meal plan to fit your eating habits. He says don't pay for meals you don't eat such as some breakfasts or meals on the weekends. And, Gregory says parents should examine their medical insurance. If they can keep their students covered, they may be able to save reduce medical costs on campus.

The Barwin family says they are thankful for all the help.

"Well, the economy is tough and obviously even the investments that we made in (Andrew's) behalf to help him go to college were significantly less than they were six months ago," said David Barwin, Andrew's father.

Andrew plans on attending Arapahoe Community College before transferring to University of Northern Colorado to study journalism.

He says getting help on filling out the forms is important.

"I basically, didn't know very much about the whole program," said Andrew Barwin. "That's why I came here."