The federal government supports college students by annually awarding about $150 billion in financial aid, and Amarillo College wants to help folks in its service area get their fair share of it.

That’s why specialists will be standing by all day on July 15 for Hands-On FAFSA, an event designed to offer personal assistance to anyone interested in filling out the free application for federal student-aid known as FAFSA.

Hands-On FAFSA is from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 15 in the Byrd Business Building, Room 214, on AC’s Washington Street Campus. The event is completely free and is being co-sponsored by Amarillo College and TG, a Texas nonprofit agency that supports educational access.

And if the prospect of receiving free federal assistance to attend college sounds appealing, at least one lucky participant will do even better than that. TG will provide a $500 college scholarship to be awarded by random drawing among those who attend the event and complete the FAFSA.

The scholarship giveaway is an element of TG’s “FAFSA 500” campaign, which touts three reasons to complete the FAFSA now: It’s free and easy—It’s your ticket to college financial aid—You might win a $500 scholarship.

“We want to help get everyone qualified for as much assistance as their eligibility allows,” Kelly Prater, director of financial aid at AC, said. “The generosity of TG puts a fantastic additional incentive on the table, but of course everyone who fills out a FAFSA will be a winner at Hands-On FAFSA.”

The process usually takes only about 20 minutes to complete. Participants are encouraged to come equipped with their most recent federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money earned, but the application process may be undertaken without them.

For more information about the Hands-On FAFSA event at Amarillo College, please contact the Financial Aid Office at (806) 371-5311 or financial@actx.edu, or visit the website at www.actx.edu.