Gehlen Catholic School

Excellence in Education. Leadership Through Christ.

• A College Financial Aid Night for the Class of 2020 and their parents was held in April 2019.  

• A College Financial Aid Night for the Class of 2021 and their parents will be held on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 at 5:30pm in Gehlen's library. ​UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 response, the March 31 in-person presentation is cancelled.  However, parents will receive an email about how to access the presentation electronically.

• Families can begin filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as early as October 1 of a student's senior year at www.fafsa.gov.  

• Are you looking for a little assistance with the FAFSA?  The Iowa College Access Network (ICAN) will help families complete the FAFSA.  They also provide other financial aid and college planning help.  Their assistance is provided at no cost.  Please schedule an appointment with our local representative online at www.icansucceed.org/apt or call 877-272-4692.  You can also contact her directly: Mary Joan Dougherty; mjdougherty@ICANsucceed.org; 515-402-4211.

• To view college scholarship opportunities, click here.

Resources

• Financial Aid Guide 
  This guide from ICAN provides a great overview of the financial aid process.  It covers a variety of topics such as the financial aid timeline, filing forms, types of loans, saving for college and much more.

• What You Need to Fill Out Your FAFSA and Helpful Tips - for Class of 2019
• What You Need to Fill Out Your FAFSA and Helpful Tips - for Class of 2020
  This sheet from ICAN lists all of the information and documents you will need to fill out the FAFSA completely and accurately.  Page 2 lists FAFSA filing tips and other helpful tips.
  
  

• FAFSA website
  Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid here.

• FSA ID
  This link explains how the FSA ID replaced FSA PIN, and how to create your FSA ID.  This handout from ICAN provides additional information. 
   

• Iowa College Access Network - ICAN
  Find everything you want to know about planning for and paying for college here.

• ICAN - Financial Aid Resources
  This is a direct link specifically to ICAN's financial aid resources.

• Video: How to Fill Out the FAFSA
  This 3:01-minute video from Federal Student Aid provides and overview of the FAFSA process.

• Video: Types of Federal Student Aid
  This 2:14-minute video from Federal Student Aid introduces concepts of grants, loans, and work-study.