RCC to host CFNC training Jan. 31

Robeson Community College will host training next week for College for North Carolina, or CFNC, formerly known as the College Foundation of North Carolina. The training will take place on Friday, January 31 in the ADL Auditorium from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.  

“We are excited about hosting CFNC’s Regional Training at Robeson Community College,” stated Zilma Lopes, the financial aid director for RCC. “We are anticipating that about 40-50 high school counselors, as well as college advisors from our region will be in attendance.” 

The event will start with a welcome by Vice President Dr. Johnny Smith, followed by training, a panel discussion, with breakout sessions in the afternoon.  

“Our culinary arts department will be catering our lunch for the day,” Lopes added. “This is going to be a great way to kick off our February FAFSA awareness month since our training will be centered around FAFSA completion and strategies.”  

For the current academic year, Robeson Community College successfully increased its FAFSA completion rate, ensuring more students received the aid they qualified for.  

“Despite a nationwide decline in FAFSA completion of about 20-30%, RCC continues to trend upward,” Lopes said. “For the academic year 2024-2025, we have awarded a bit over $16 million in aid, which includes the new Next NC Scholarship.”