The Cerritos College Financial Aid department drew crowds of students as it hosted a Financial Aid Fair that gave out candy, gift cards, snacks and of course, insight on the financial aid process.

The fair was held on Wednesday, April 13, and another fair was held on Tuesday, April 19. Another fair will also take place next week on Tuesday, April 26.

Financial aid technician Jenny Mejia says that there are many important deadlines coming up and it is important for students to keep updated on the documents they need in order to successfully apply for facial aid.

“What we like to do is promote the word out for students to get in all their documents for the new upcoming financial aid year. In this case we’re promoting the 2016-2017 school year and in order for them [students] to be qualified and have their money ready for Fall, they need to have all their documents in by the end of this month,” Mejia said.

Students are greeted by faculty and staff who were there to assist with any questions regarding the financial aid process.

Those who participate in the fair are asked to go through the booths in order by station and at the end are given a ticket which entitles participants to food, drinks and prizes.

Stations gradually take the students through the financial aid process where the students are reminded of important deadlines and what documents are needed.

Stations also have students check their mycerritos todo list for any tasks that need to be done accordingly.

The last station gives students more information about the recent changes in facial aid.

Mejia said that one of the important changes was that if students have two consecutive semesters of academic probation, the fee waiver for classes will be withdrawn.

This is in order to get students qualified in time so that they can start receiving financial support by the start of the Fall semester.

Many students, such as vice president elect Enrique Rodriguez, believe that these events offer a lot to students but should be done more around campus.

” Financial Aid is great. This is a good promote, but I think this fair needs to be done a lot more around campus,” Rodriguez said.

This was the first time that this event has been hosted by the drop off zone in front of the admissions quad.

Mejia hopes that the new location will draw in more students than last year.