The third North Carolina Financial Aid Summit kicked off June 17 at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, bringing school counselors, financial aid professionals, state advocacy organizations and an array of educators together to learn best practices, find out the latest financial aid information and connect with their fellow colleagues in the trenches.
But Kathy Hastings, outreach and communications director for the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA), framed the event best in the preamble to her state and federal financial aid updates.
“This truly is about you and what you have done for the students of North Carolina,” she told the crowd.
The summit came to fruition three years ago when stakeholders at the John M. Belk Foundation (JMBE), NCSEAA, GEAR UP NC and MyFutureNC were discussing the realities of college outreach.
Mike Kraus, managing director for JMBE, recalled the realization that a lot of the state’s goals around college access ran through school counselors’ offices.
“There are all these goals that the state wants to accomplish. There are all these goals that philanthropy wants to accomplish,” he said.” And none of us will ever sit with a student. So, we ask counselors to really do a lot.”
This year, nearly 400 people gathered at the Benton Center. They took part in a data walk that relayed information about completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
“It’s one thing to have somebody tell you a piece of data or tell you a story, but it’s another thing to actually engage with it,” Hastings told education news outlet EducationNC. “It allows folks to begin to own what they’re seeing and what they might want to change about the data.”
Attendees were asked to vote on what they thought the statewide FAFSA completion goal should be after doing the data walk. Their input is the last step in developing a new statewide FAFSA completion goal.
Hastings also gave a State of the State address that included state and federal updates. She delivered some good news, including the fact that the FAFSA is expected to start on the traditional date of October 1 instead of the delayed openings from the past two years. Students will also be able to set up their Studentaid.gov account and complete their FAFSA on the same day. In addition, there will be a simplified contributor process that will only require students to know their contributor’s email address, making it much easier for students to invite a parent or spouse to contribute information to their FAFSA.
Watch Hasting’s presentation: 2025 North Carolina Financial Aid Summit State of the State
The audience had the opportunity to hear from Columbus County Schools about how they achieved their monumental FAFSA completion rate of 84.1%, up 17.7% from the previous year, making it the county with the highest FAFSA completion. To read more about that, go to EducationNC’s coverage of the event.
In between sessions, attendees had the opportunity to engage with a variety of community partners and agencies, hearing from organizations such as Gear Up NC, College for North Carolina (CFNC), the North Carolina Education Lottery and more.
Breakout session topics included educating parents on financial aid, education benefits available to military families and the power of partnerships. Time was also built in for education professionals to gather by regions and make college outreach plans with their colleagues, including setting their own FAFSA goal and finding partners with local organizations.
“The Financial Aid Summit was a highly engaging experience that provided valuable opportunities to interact and collaborate with professionals from various counties and roles, all committed to advancing student’s post-secondary success through financial aid support,” said Michelle Sims, high school counseling supervisor for Guilford County Schools.
Kraus described the work that Sims and her colleagues around the state do as “heart work disguised as paperwork.”
Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of MyFutureNC, put a finer point on the impact of their work.
“You are the gateway to every single student knowing what their opportunities are and unlocking the financial aid that is available to them,” she said. “You are the front line, you are the lifeline, and for so many students, you are the one steady adult helping them to decode what’s next after high school.”
For some of those on the front line, like Veronica Edge, their individual contributions are even more impactful when accomplished with their colleagues. She is the supervisor of secondary school counseling and student records for New Hanover County Schools.
“By working together with community partners, we can move the post-secondary needle for students and families,” she said. “Completing the FAFSA is more than a form — it’s a gateway to opportunity. Let’s unite our efforts to ensure every student has a pathway to success.”
After lunch, the audience heard from keynote speaker Jermaine White, assistant superintendent of Student Support Services for Harnett County Schools. His talk was called “The Importance of Now: Act with Purpose. Impact today. Empower the Future.” He discussed strategies for working with students, including the need for empathy, deep connections and abandoning traditional approaches to relating with students.
“Best thing we can do for kids … instead of teaching them how to always be successful … teach them how to respond when they are not successful,” he wrote in his presentation. See his slides below.
Presentation for Financial Aid Conference
And the end of the summit was the time for honoring some college outreach professionals who went above and beyond.
On April 2, ACT’s American College Application Campaign (ACAC) announced its annual 26 School of Excellence awardees from around the country, including North Carolina’s own North Henderson High School in Henderson County.
Representatives of Henderson County attended the summit and were celebrated at its close.
ACAC is “a national effort to increase the number of first-generation college students and students from under-resourced communities pursuing a college degree or other higher education credential,” according to a press release from ACAC.
Read more about North Henderson High School’s achievement.
New this year was recognition for the first cohort of state Financial Aid Champions.
These 19 celebrants represented 17 schools, one district central office and one community partnership, and they received this designation because of their commitment to following financial aid best practices.
On average, the 17 schools that received the designation saw a 6.8% bump in their FAFSA completion rates this year over 2023-24, the last normal FAFSA year. The improvement was even more dramatic (21.4%) compared to last year, when the poor rollout of a newly redesigned FAFSA opened 3 months late and yielded record low completion rates.
Read about the Financial Aid Champions.
While the Financial Aid Summit was ultimately about helping provide further education and information for the attendees, it was, first and foremost, a celebration: a sentiment encapsulated well by Patti B. Harris, director of GEAR UP NC.
“North Carolina’s school counselors play a vital role in guiding students on their path to and through postsecondary education. Creating space to honor their dedication, share best practices, and re-energize them for the year ahead is not just important — it’s essential,” she said. “I’m proud that GEAR UP NC can support the NC Financial Aid Summit to recognize these incredible educators and ensure they have the tools and support needed to help all students succeed.”