School plans to give away $500 scholarship and laptop
Cheryl Hemric For The Robesonian
Students and prospective students participate in FAFSA Day 2024 at Robeson Community College. RCC had the second-highest ranking attendance across the state with 108 students checking in during the event.
Contributed photo | RCC
School plans to give away $500 scholarship and laptop
LUMBERTON — Attend Robeson Community College’s FAFSA Day on Saturday, February 22 from 10 am to 2 pm and you just might win a $500 scholarship, or a laptop valued at $500. The college is also giving away $25 gift cards and other awesome prizes to those who make their way through the doors of the student center seeking assistance with the 2025-2026 Federal Application for Student Aid.
“FAFSA Day is going to be a fun-filled event, we are going to have door prizes, and games, and it’s going to be an enjoyable event for you and your family,” stated Zilma Lopes, the director of financial aid. “We will have all hands-on deck, our financial aid staff and admissions officers will be available to answer questions and assist you with completing the RCC Application and the FAFSA.”
The event is open to new prospective students and those currently attending Robeson Community College. For those who have children, a supervised coloring station will be set up for the little ones to enjoy so parents can focus their attention on receiving assistance and completing their financial aid forms.
“The FAFSA is so important, and it is a requirement for the $3000 NextNC Scholarship,” stated Lopes. “The NextNC scholarship is for those eligible for in-state tuition and whose combined household income is less than $80000, which the majority of those living in Robeson County are qualified to receive.”
“That’s why we are hosting this event, we want to see an increase in FAFSA completion so that students in our area can receive financial assistance to help make their dreams of becoming a college graduate a reality,” Lopes added. “The FAFSA is also used to award scholarships, even merit-based scholarships, so even if you do not qualify for financial aid, it is still so important that you complete the FAFSA because you could potentially qualify for other forms of financial aid and scholarships.”
To date, the financial aid office has awarded $16 million dollars in financial aid to students at Robeson Community College. In 2024, the RCC Foundation assisted 96 students and awarded over $30,000 in scholarships, helping to bridge the gap between financial aid and actual costs for those having to pay out of pocket.
“Robeson Community College will exhaust every possibility because we really want to help our students and we want to ensure that we’ve done our best to try to get students the funding and resources they need,” Lopes said. “We know it’s hard juggling school, work, family obligations and trying to make ends meet, so we want every student to feel like we’ve tried our best to assist.”
Financial aid is the number one topic that comes up when students start to talk about going to college, and officials say it all starts with the FAFSA.
“Don’t leave money sitting on the table, money is available to assist you with achieving your dreams and reaching your goals, and we are here to help with the process,” Lopes said. “More than 6 million FAFSA have been filed across the United States, and we want to make sure that everyone in Robeson County has had an opportunity to file one as well.”
A Spanish interpreter will also be available to assist with translation as needed.
“There are support guides on the studentaid.gov website that are available in Spanish, as well as many other languages,” Lopes said. “There are many resources available, and we can help provide you with all the information you need.”
To learn more about RCC’s FAFSA day, please visit https://www.robeson.edu/fafsa-day-february-22-2025-robeson-community-college/ and complete the form available or call 910-272-3352.
Cheryl Hemric is the public information officer at Robeson Community College. Reach her by email at chemric@robeson.edu.
Call:
T:910-739-4322
Address:
2175 N. Roberts Ave,
Lumberton, NC 28358
