An Evaluation of College Goal Sunday Arizona

The cost of education and the amount of financial aid students receive could have an impact on choice of college and ultimately whether students will attend higher education.

College Goal Sunday is a national outreach program designed to educate parents and students of color, low-income and first-generation status on the process of applying for financial aid.

The program also provides an opportunity for students and their parents to complete the financial aid application on-site.

This multimethod, evaluation study investigated the impact of attendance at College Goal Sunday 2008 in Arizona on students' understanding of the financial aid process and subsequent successful completion of the financial aid application as well as student perceptions of the impact of financial aid on perceived ability to attend college of choice.

In addition, analysis of first-generation status was completed to determine if perceptions and impacts differed for first-generation students as compared to non first-generation students.

Ethnicity was considered to determine if there was a difference in perception and impact among students of different ethnic backgrounds.

A total of 1001 surveys were collected from student participants at College Goal Sunday Arizona in 2008.

The records of 59 student participants were matched against Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) records to determine completion of FAFSA.

A follow-up phone survey was conducted with a sample of 20 attendees to understand student perception of impact of the event.

The importance of financial aid was also evaluated in the written and follow-up phone survey.

College Goal Sunday had a positive impact on students' understanding of the financial aid process as well as completion of the financial aid process.

No statistically significant difference was found comparing first-generation and non first-generation students nor for students of different ethnic/racial backgrounds.

Even though the majority of the survey respondents indicated they would attend college regardless of receipt of financial aid, most students suggested they could not attend their college of choice without funding.

This study supports the need for high schools, colleges, the government and the community at large to disseminate financial aid information to ensure all potential college students the opportunity to attend higher education.