RISLA COLLEGE PLANNING OPEN IN CRANSTON
THE COLLEGE PLANNING CENTER HAS A NEW HOME AT CHAPEL VIEW
RISLA COLLEGE PLANNING CENTER | CRANSTON, RI | JULY 17, 2023 | PATTI DOYLE
RISLA today opened its new College Planning Center located in Chapel View Lifestyle Center, Cranston, and in so doing, reestablished an important resource to students and their families planning for college.
RISLA officials were joined in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony by U.S. Senator Jack Reed, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congressman Seth Magaziner, and other dignitaries. RISLA Board Chairman Robert Delaney provided welcome remarks, and Charles Kelley, CPA, CFA, RISLA Executive Director served as Master of Ceremonies.
According to Mr. Kelley, RISLA’s College Planning Center (CPC) is a free service dedicated to helping students gain equal access to higher education. “Each year, the CPC helps thousands of students and families plan for attending and paying for college,” he noted. “We provide such essential services as hands-on assistance with applying for financial aid, help with resumes and college essays, and tips on how to complete the all-important FAFSA application, which unlocks federal aid.”
“I strongly believe that every student with the drive to attend college should have the opportunity to go,” said Senator Reed. “The CPC is an invaluable resource to help college-bound students and their families gain a good sense of all options available to them. That’s also why we annually host a free College Financial Aid Workshop to provide an overview of federal and state aid programs and explain ways to apply for them.”
Senator Reed wrote the law streamlining the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to ensure more students could complete the form and get financial aid and supports further improvements to the application process. He also introduced the Pell Grant Preservation & Expansion Act to expand and permanently safeguard the Pell Grant program, helping millions of low-income students offset the rising costs of college.
The CPC staff provides both in-person and virtual assistance. The College Planning Center, which had previously been located in the Warwick Mall, is open year-round by appointment. Services are offered in English and Spanish.
“The College Planning Center has long been an important resource for Rhode Islanders pursuing higher education,” said Senator Whitehouse. “I’m pleased to celebrate this new location, which will help students plan for a smooth transition to college. I am continuing the fight to make college more affordable and to reduce the student loan burden that holds back too many young people from achieving the goals higher education was supposed to bring within reach.”
Congressman Magaziner said, “Students and their families can often times be overwhelmed when applying to and figuring out how to pay for college, so I applaud RISLA and its new, easily accessible College Planning Center with knowledgeable counselors who provide one-on-one assistance to help families understand all of their options from start to finish.”
Stacy Crooks, Director of the College Planning Center, concluded, “It is critically important for the RISLA College Planning Center to find new ways to make college planning easier and more accessible. For that reason, we have a full spectrum of products and services available online at collegeplanningcenter.org. However, they are not intended to replace any of the services offered at the College Planning Center, including free one-on-one FAFSA completion appointments.”
About RISLA
The College Planning Center is a free service provided by the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority since 1998. The CPC assists students with every step of their college journey – from walking students and parents through the college planning process, educating families on how to obtain financial aid, providing tools that help families make informed and responsible borrowing choices for college, to helping students with jump-starting their careers. Our services are free to Rhode Island students and parents preparing, planning, and paying for college.
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RISLA DEBUTS NEW COLLEGE PLANNING TOOL
NEW COLLEGE PLANNING TOOL TO ASSIST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND SCHOOL COUNSELORS
RISLA COLLEGE PLANNING CENTER | Warwick, RI | MARCH 14, 2023 | PATTI DOYLE
The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) today unveiled an online resource tool designed to promote greater completion of the FAFSA which is the first step in applying for financial aid and scholarships. This tool will serve as a valuable resource for high school counselors who assist students in preparing for college.
According to Charles Kelley, Executive Director of RISLA, its College Planning Center has created a financial aid portal for high school counselors that they can easily forward to their students and families to help guide them in the college planning process. “This new tool provides step by step assistance on completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, popularly known as the FAFSA, lists scholarship opportunities and is a convenient way to book a free counseling session with the financial aid professionals at the RISLA College Planning Center,” said Mr. Kelley. Additionally, the new tool offers a portal developed specifically for school counselors and may be accessed by counselors at https://www.risla.com/cpc-fafsa-toolkit-counselors
Stacy Crooks, Director of the College Planning Center, stressed that “It is critically important for the RISLA College Planning Center to find new ways to make FAFSA completion easier to understand for students and families. We are confident that these new tools on our website will do just that.” She continued, “Rhode Island has a good FAFSA completion rate when compared to other states, but, there is always room for improvement, particularly with students from disadvantaged and inner-city communities. These handy online tools should serve to further increase our state’s FAFSA completion rate and provide additional options for students and families. However, they are not intended to replace any of the existing services offered at the College Planning Center, including free one-on-one FAFSA completion appointments which are still available.”
Kelley noted that according to NCAN eligible students in Rhode Island left on the table more than 8 million dollars in Pell Grant during the 2020-2021 academic year, simply because they did not complete the FAFSA. Submitting a FAFSA is all that is needed for a student to determine their eligibility for up to $7395 in Pell grant for the upcoming academic year.
The new RISLA website tool was debuted at this morning’s School Counselors’ Breakfast where more than 100 counselors were in attendance to learn how they can help their students with FAFSA completion and prepare for college. General Treasurer James A. Diossa provided the keynote address.
“For more than 40 years, RISLA has been a community leader in easing the college planning process for Rhode Island students and their families,” said General Treasurer James A. Diossa. “RISLA’s contributions are especially valuable in first-generation households and low-income communities where families may not always have accessibility to the tools needed for educational success. I value RISLA’s results-driven efforts, which is exactly the kind of support that our future leaders need for the best chance at success.”
About RISLA’s College Planning Center
RISLA is a non-profit, quasi-state authority that has been providing affordable education solutions since 1981.
The College Planning Center assists students with every step of their college journey – from walking students and parents through the college planning process, educating families on how to obtain financial aid, providing tools that help families make informed and responsible borrowing choices for college, to helping students with jump-starting their careers. Our services are free to Rhode Island students and parents preparing, planning, and paying for college.
GOLOCAL INTERVIEW WITH RISLA COLLEGE PLANNING CENTER
HOW RI FAMILIES CAN GET HELP MANAGING THE COST OF COLLEGE
RISLA COLLEGE PLANNING CENTER | Warwick, RI | January 09, 2023
GoLocal to discuss some of the strategies and resources RISLA College Planning Center offers to destress and close the college financing gap for college.
STUDENT LOANS
SCAMMERS TARGETING STUDENTS SEEKING LOAN FORGIVENESS
RISLA | Warwick, Rhode Island | OCTOBER 27, 2022
Noel Simpson from the Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) spoke with wpri.com about scams and loan forgiveness programs. Learn tips to keep your information safe.
PELL GRANT
CELEBRATES ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY
RISLA | Warwick, Rhode Island | September 6, 2022
RISLA was proud to have co-led this event to recognize and celebrate the direct benefits Pell Grants offer students who need financial assistance to pursue higher education. A great highlight included the following statistic shared by Senator Reed’s office.
“Last year, 23,752 Rhode Island students received more than $96.9 million in Pell Grants, and nationwide over 6.35 million American students utilized $26.45 billion in Pell Grant funding to help pay for college.”
THE RHODE SHOW
NAVIGATING THE COLLEGE FINANCING PROCESS
RISLA | Warwick, Rhode Island | JUNE 6, 2022
Join The Rhode Show and Chad Pastorius from RISLA to discuss navigating the college financing process and not borrowing more than you need.
GOLOCAL
FIND OUT WHAT RISLA IS SAYING ABOUT STUDENT LOANS & MORE!
GOLOCAL | RISLA | Warwick, Rhode Island | JUNE 7, 2022
Charles Kelley from RISLA joins GOLOCAL team to offer advice about student lending and how RISLA can help students and families plan, prepare and pay for college.
RISLA EMPLOYER STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM
RISLA LAUNCHES FREE SERVICE TO ASSIST EMPLOYERS IN IMPLEMENTING A REPAYMENT PROGRAM FOR EMPLOYEE STUDENT LOANS
Charles P. Kelley | Executive Director | Warwick, Rhode Island | March 30, 2020
The Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (RISLA) today announced it will offer complimentary assistance to companies that wish to implement a student loan repayment program for employees, which will now be a tax-free benefit included in the recently passed Federal stimulus legislation in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Charles Kelley, executive director of RISLA, included in the Federal stimulus legislation is a provision that enables employers to provide a student loan repayment benefit to employees on a tax-free basis. Under the provision, an employer may contribute up to $5,250 annually toward an employee’s student loans, and such payment would be excluded from the employee’s income, but is still deductible by the employer. This is in addition to the $5,250 cap on other educational assistance (e.g., tuition, fees, books) provided by the employer under current law. The provision applies to any student loan payments made by an employer on behalf of an employee after the date of enactment and before January 1, 2021.
RISLA recognizes that many employers have been hit hard by the pandemic so it will offer free of charge for a period of up to one year (March 2020 – March 2021) one-on-one assistance to employers operating in Rhode Island seeking to establish a student loan repayment assistance program. The non-profit agency will also work with business owners and human resource managers who would like RISLA to help counsel their employees on financial wellness, planning and saving for college, financial aid applications, and making smart decisions on repaying their student loans.
“Student loan repayment assistance programs allow employers to help their employees pay off their loans faster,” said Mr. Kelley. “Even before the coronavirus pandemic, employer student loan repayment was one of the fastest growing benefit additions among those organizations trying to overcome the challenge of attracting and retaining the best and brightest employees. Now tax-free, this program also has the potential to impact the workplace satisfaction and overall wellness of valuable employees.”
“The latest student loan debt statistics for 2019 show how serious the student loan debt crisis has become for borrowers across all demographics and age groups, well before the COVID-19 pandemic,” said RISLA Board Chairman Robert Delaney. “More than 45 million Americans collectively owe approximately $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Empowering business owners to play a role in reducing this debt for employees during these challenging economic times is an important tool and a critical component of this legislation.”
R.I. General Treasurer Seth Magaziner noted, “Student loans are the second highest consumer debt category after mortgages. Now, with the federal government stepping in to make employer payments tax-free, RISLA can provide the hands-on assistance and tools to effectively launch the program. For that reason, I commend RISLA for taking actions that will help employers, large and small, in these challenging times.”
RISLA Chairman Delaney concluded, “RISLA has almost 40 years of experience providing affordable higher education solutions to students and families and are experts on all aspects of student loans and repayment strategies. Importantly, as a non-profit agency, RISLA has the freedom and the obligation to do what is best for the state’s workforce, particularly during these uncertain and highly challenging economic times.” He also noted that RISLA will match 10 percent of the employer's payments for any participating employee in the form of loan forgiveness for any RISLA loan that the employee has, up to a maximum of $500 per employee.
