Salisbury High School held its annual informational night on financial aid for college-bound students and parents Sept 30.

The school offered handouts on the financial aid process, including a “FAFSA Tipsheet,” Pennsylvania student aid guide and pamphlets on student and parental loans.

School counselor Mike Anderson helps coordinate informational evenings like these and thinks the event serves as a necessary service for students entering college.

“I think it’s important for any kid going on to post-secondary college or institution,” Anderson said. “With more and more kids looking at colleges and the cost of colleges, [knowing] the cost of financial aid is critically important. This has been an annual event since I started working at Salisbury 11 years ago. We just find it a benefit to our families in the community to provide this financial aid information.”

Anderson feels that through offering these events, the school counseling department aids their community by providing them with more opportunities to better inform themselves.

“I think we do things as a department to inform, to give as much information as possible so that when it comes time to make a decision we hope that parents and students use the information that we push out there,” Anderson said.

“I think it’s a good service that our school counseling office provides and I think it’s a needed service. I think it’s just a service that needs to be provided to the community; the more information the better.”

And to parents with a college-bound senior like Nita and Bill Leary, these events accomplish their intended goal.

“[It’s] very [helpful], because it’s our first child that’s going to college,” Nita Leary said. “So, this is very new to us...

“I highly recommend it for every parent, whether it’s the first child going into college or your fifth going to college because every year it changes.”

Michael Burke from the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency presented attendees with details regarding what forms to fill out, what information is required on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the steps to fill it out. Burke hopes his presentation persuades every family type to apply for financial aid.

“I [hope] that all families apply for financial aid regardless of what their circumstances are because if they don’t apply, then they’ll never be considered,” Burke said.

“Some of the reasons I ask them to apply is one of the things I talked about; a family’s circumstances or situation could change at any time. If they wait until it happens they’re probably gonna be too late because we talked about deadlines. So I think the most important thing is I want families and students to be aware of the process, what’s available out there and to encourage them to apply and let the schools tell them what they’re eligible for and not make assumptions that they’re not eligible.”