Washington, DC–To directly assist, engage and inform District High School Seniors preparing to apply for college financial aid, the Office of the State Superintendent Education (OSSE) is hosting a series of on-site financial aid presentations at high schools citywide.

Conducted by the OSSE Division of Higher Education Financial Services (HEFS) and described as a ‘Blitz’ due to their ambitious, full-service approach, 33 presentations have been conducted among all eight District Wards to provide insight into college financial aid, determine eligibility for the DC TAG Grant and answer questions about the OneApp application directly from students. More Blitzes are scheduled in the coming weeks and, along included with several other initiatives, workshops and events targeted to high school students, families and service agencies, HEFS has directly engaged 12,737 District high school seniors and identified 8376 students as eligible for financial aid this school year.

As of January 2012, HEFS increased DC OneApp completion rates by 40 percent compared to last year and overall, OSSE and HEFS awarded over $32.5 million in 2011 to over 5,000 District public and private high school graduates for enrollment in over 300 public institutions across 49 states and the District of Columbia. The division also awarded an additional $2 million to 3,300 District students in 2011 through the DC Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (DCLEAP) and nearly $291K through the DC Adoption Scholarship.

Information about HEFS, the DC OneApp and DC TAG programs is available online at osse.dc.gov.