October is College Changes Everything® (CCE) Month in Illinois, when students are completing both their college applications and financial aid forms at the same time. Launched by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) five years ago, ISAC and its partners have extended the month-long campaign to provide an intensive schedule of free college and financial aid planning support to students and families from Labor Day through Thanksgiving. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) and the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid for the 2021-22 school year will both be available on October 1, 2020. This year is unique in many ways. The Covid-19 pandemic has upended not only how education is delivered, but how students are thinking—or perhaps re-thinking—plans for post-secondary education.
CCE activities include free financial aid completion and college application workshops, where students and families can fill out college applications and/or complete their FAFSA or Alternative Application right then and there, with direct assistance from college and financial aid experts. ISAC will be hosting Facebook live events as well as other online events in English and Spanish throughout the fall. For a continuously updated list of ISAC virtual events, visit studentportal.isac.org/events. Find out more and join the conversation at collegechangeseverything.org. Personalized assistance is also available through ISAC College Q&A (isac.org/collegeqa), a free text messaging service where students can get answers to their college and financial aid questions sent directly to their phones. ISAC also offers assistance through the agency’s call center, 800-899-4722 (ISAC), and its Online Chat service.