McDowell Technical Community College staff will be holding informational sessions on Monday and Tuesday, October 17th and 18th, to assist prospective students of all ages in completing college applications and related documents, including financial aid forms—such as FAFSA—and North Carolina’s Residency Determination Service (RDS) paperwork. College staff will also provide information on career assessments, how to request transcripts, and where and how to access online documents.
Both sessions will be held in the Smith Academic Resource Center in the Cedar Building on the college’s main campus at 54 College Drive. Monday’s session is from 1 to 3 pm, while Tuesday’s is from 4 to 6 pm.
“These assistance sessions are open to anyone interested in applying to college, whether they’re interested in McDowell Tech or another college or university,” said Betsy Ruiz, CCP Student Success Coordinator.
“We will have staff from our Student Services Office, Financial Aid Office and Student Enrichment Center available to answer questions and ‘walk’ students through the application process, whether they are a high school senior or a prospective adult learner.”
The week of October 17th to 21st is Free College Application Week and many colleges waive application fees during this week, which highlights the importance of prospective students attending one of these final information sessions.
“Applications to North Carolina Community Colleges are always free,” said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, MTCC President. “More importantly, tuition and fees at McDowell Tech continue to be free through 2023 via our Learn & Grow Scholarship process for eligible students. During these times of high inflation, we’re doing everything we can to remove any barrier we can to college access for all of our citizens.”
Students who want to actually start or complete an application during one of these sessions are encouraged to bring a laptop or Chromebook and their username and password for CFNC (College Foundation of North Carolina) username and password, if they have already set up an account on the site. Limited computer access will be available for those who do not have a personal computer.
In addition, certain standard forms may require specific information that attendees should be prepared to answer:
NC Residency Determination Service (RDS)
Will be requested:
- Student and parent SSN (or other identifier)
- Student immigration information (if applicable)
- Student/parent address
- Length of time living in NC
- Whether parent filed state taxes as a NC resident
- Whether a parent has a car registered in NC
May be requested:
- Whether a parent/student has a NC Driver’s License
○ Issue Date
○ License Number
- Whether parent/student is registered to vote in NC
- Whether parent/student is employed in NC
- Whether student attends/attended NC high school
- Whether your family receives social service benefits
- Military information (if applicable)
Application Completion (for MTCC and other colleges/university)
- Student Driver’s License number & issued date
- Institution enrolled dates (Month/Year)
Federal Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Your Social Security number
- Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
- Your driver’s license number if you have one
- Your Alien Registration number if you are not a U.S. citizen
- Federal tax information, tax documents, or tax returns, including IRS W-2
information, for you (and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if
you are a dependent student:
○ IRS Form1040
○ Foreign tax return or IRS Form 1040-NR
○ Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
- Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income,
and veterans noneducation benefits, for you, and for your parents if you are a dependent student
- Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments,
including stocks and bonds and real estate (but not including the home in which
you live); and business and farm assets for you and for your parents if you are a dependent student
“As always, prospective MTCC students who are unable to attend one of these sessions are invited to meet with one of our Success Coaches at other times through the week to get the help they need to enroll at the college,” said Merritt. “Our goal is to make college affordable and accessible for everyone and to set folks on a path to new careers with family-sustaining wages, and we’ll do whatever we can, at any time we can, to make that possible.”
