Students stepped up to help this month at not one but TWO volunteer events.  Central Scholarship held our annual Thank-A-Thon where students call donors and express gratitude for their support.  Scholarship recipients like Ladell and Solomon (pictured above) and Denise, Alex, and Solomon (pictured below) donated their time to call donors and thank them for all that they do.

Earlier in the month, we invited students to our office for a focus group lunch that Central Scholarship holds every year.  During lunch, students participated in a discussion led by the staff.  The questions asked helped us understand the student’s perspective in applying to Central Scholarship.  Thanks to all of the students (pictured below) for their helpful suggestions on how to improvea prospective student’s experience.

Kiauhna Haynes is a junior at Pennsylvania State University. She is majoring in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience. After receiving a degree from Penn State, Kiauhna hopes to attend medical school to earn a PhD/MD in psychiatry. She then plans to combine her degree with her love of children and practice pediatric psychiatry.

Kiauhna was a scholarship recipient in 2011 and was chosen to speak at last year’s Student Awards Luncheon at the Cylburn Arboretum.  If you are a student and wish to apply for a scholarship, please visit www.centralsb.org.  The application is available from January 1 – April 1, 2012.

One of Central Scholarship’s partners is the Urban Teacher Center in Washington, DC and Baltimore.  They are currently accepting applications and the next application deadline is February 15, 2012.  There are two webinars to learn more about their program and the application process before then:  January 19 and February 8, 2012 at 9PM E.S.T.  Interested individuals can register through the events section of their website at www.urbanteachercenter.org.  You can also see where they will be around the country over the next few months (from coast to coast!)

Their next Final Interview Days in Washington, DC and Baltimore include:  March 9, 10; May 4 and 5; and June 7 and 8.  They also have three Final Interview Days around the country:  March 8 in Chicago at City Year Chicago; May 2 in Atlanta at Spelman University and June 4 in Los Angeles at City Year Los Angeles.

Apply directly at our website — www.centralsb.org

Central Scholarship’s application for the 2012-2013 academic year opens on January 1st, 2012.  Students will be able to apply for the scholarship from our website (www.centralsb.org) or at the following links:

For undergraduate, graduate, and professional study, apply here:

https://scholarselect.com/scholarships/2566-central-scholarship—general-application-2012

For vocational training at community colleges and private career schools, apply here:

https://scholarselect.com/scholarships/2934-central-scholarship—vocational-grant-application-2012

Please note — these links will be inactive until January 1st.

Best of luck to all those who apply!

Several universities that we have visited have stressed the importance of getting you FAFSA completed in January. If we don’t have all of our financial and tax information yet, how can we complete the application that early? — Claudia G.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be submitted as soon as possible after January 1. While the federal government allows you to apply for federal student aid until June 30 of the following year or the end of the spring semester, whichever comes first, several states and most colleges have much earlier deadlines. For example, one state has a mid-February deadline and ten states have early March deadlines for state grant money. There are also five states that award state grants on a first come, first served basis until the money runs out. Some colleges also operate on a first come, first served basis. Other colleges have an earlier preferred deadline in addition to a regular deadline; students who apply by the earlier deadline tend to get more generous financial aid packages.

But the FAFSA asks for specific numbers from the federal income tax return and it usually is not possible to file a federal income tax return that early.

• Most people do not receive their 1098, 1099 and W-2 forms until early February. (The IRS deadline for providing these forms to recipientsis January 31.)
• This year taxpayers who itemize deductions on Schedule A of IRS Form 1040 will have to wait until mid-February 2011 to file their 2010 federal income tax returns while the IRS updates its tax return processing systems. Congress extended a variety of expiring tax provisions at the last minute through the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-312, 12/17/2010).
• Taxpayers can obtain an automatic six-month extension of the April 15 deadline by filing IRS Form 4868, Application for Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. Such taxpayers might not file their federal income tax returns until October 15.

Do not wait until you have filed your federal income tax returns to submit the FAFSA. Instead, use estimated numbers to complete the FAFSA. You will have an opportunity to correct any errors later and will be required to update the application after your taxes are filed. Be sure to check the “will file” box. The US Department of Education will send an email reminder in April to update the FAFSA information after your federal income tax returns have been filed.

Estimates should be based on the last pay stub and brokerage/bank account statements of the tax year. It’s a good idea to review the previous year’s federal income tax return to ensure that you haven’t overlooked a major source of income, such as interest and dividend income, alimony, small business income and rental income. But don’t substitute the previous year’s income tax return for the current year’s income tax return, as the numbers may differ. Try to provide as accurate an income figure as possible, because errors in the income figure can yield big changes in the college financial aid packages.

If you don’t update the FAFSA after you file your federal income tax returns, your FAFSA may be selected for verification. During verification you will be required to provide copies of supporting documentation for the numbers reported on the FAFSA. The US Department of Education is using a more targeted verification system which selects FAFSAs for verification based on discrepancies and answers to error-prone questions. This may mean that significantly more FAFSAs will be verified this year. (In previous years colleges were required to verify at least 30 percent of FAFSAs and some colleges voluntarily verified 100 percent of the applications.)

If your financial circumstances have changed (e.g., due to a salary reduction or layoff), you should use the figures from the current year’s federal income tax return just as you would if there had been no change in circumstances. After you file the FAFSA, call the college and ask for a professional judgment review (sometimes called a special circumstances review or financial aid appeal). Provide the college with a copy of documentation of the change in circumstances, such as a copy of the layoff notice, as well as information about any severance pay or unemployment benefits. The college financial aid administrator has the option of switching the FAFSA from prior tax year income to estimated award year income.

Ask Kantro is written by Mark Kantrowitz, an expert on paying for college and publisher of FinAid.org and Fastweb.com, the leading free web sites for information about student financial aid, student loans and scholarships. Write to Ask Kantro at AskKantro@Fastweb.com.  Original post: http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/2958-ask-kantro-how-do-i-file-the-fafsa-in-january-when-tax-returns-cant-be-filed-that-early?goback=%2Egde_961127_member_85160256

Jewish Community Services is offering several scholarships for eligible students graduating from high school this year.

Grants are available for Jewish students from the Baltimore Metro area from single-parent homes for assistance in pursuing higher education at an accredited U.S. college or university.

In addition, JCS offers one scholarship to a Jewish student with documented diagnosed learning disabilities, whether the student is from a two-parent or a single-parent family.  This award is for assistance in pursuing vocational, trade or college education.

Recipients for both categories of scholarships are chosen based upon financial need, academic performance, community and school involvement, and letters of recommendation.

For both categories of awards, the firm application deadline is March 15, 2012.  Qualified students are encouraged to apply for one of these grants.   For an application, please call 410-466-9200 or visit www.jcsbaltimore.org/jcs-scholarship-program

ItWorks has JANUARY 2012 GRANT FUNDED CNA/GNA CLASS for MALE RESIDENTS OF BALTIMORE CITY.  Candidates must have a High School diploma or GED and be unemployed or have a financial need (earning less than $66,000 per year).

The registration will be held on Tuesday, December 20, December 27 or January 3 at 9:00am at:

ManorCare Ruxton

7001 N. Charles Street

Towson, MD 21204

(Located North of GBMC, just inside 695)

This will be an 8 week, full-time, day class held form 8:00am-3:00pm Monday-Fridays.  Classes will be held at ManorCare Ruxton, which is located in Towson, north of GBMC, just inside 695.  For more information, please direct candidates to our recording at (443) 482-3394.

For those interested, please bring:

1)     Maryland picture ID (and MVA change of address card, if you have moved) showing Baltimore City address

2)     Social Security Card

3)     Birth certificate, passport or permanent resident/ green card

4)     Verifiable High School Diploma or GED

5)     2010 tax return (or the return of the individual claiming the candidate as a dependent), showing income of less than $66,000

6)     Proof of address, such as any printed document reflecting the name and Baltimore City address of the candidate

Are you interested in becoming a teacher?  Tomorrow (December 15, 2011 midnight E.D.T.)  is Urban Teacher Center’s next application deadline.    It is not too late to start and complete an application for review this deadline cycle.  The application is online at www.urbanteachercenter.org.

Urban Teacher Center is also hosting two job shadow days in Washington, DC and Baltimore for prospects and applicants interested in spending a “day in the life” of a resident–experiencing an urban classroom and UTC’s graduate coursework.  Please email Kerry Swarr at Kerrys@urbanteachercenter.org to R.S.V.P. for either Jan. 11 or Jan. 18.