STOCKTON — The San Joaquin County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 9th Annual Student Financial Aid and College Awareness Workshop takes place on Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Alex G. Spanos Center, located at 3601 Pacific Ave. on the campus of the University of Pacific.

Registration starts at 8 a.m.  The workshop will offer high school seniors, athletes, transfer students and their parents free step-by-step assistance filling out the complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form.  The FAFSA opens the door not only to free money for college through Cal Grants, but also to many other forms of financial assistance for paying college tuition.

“We are so very proud of how this educational event has evolved over the last eight years,” stated Mark Martinez, Chief Executive Officer of the chamber.

We started this event many years ago hoping to help parents overcome a difficult application process and now we are seeing parents come back with their younger children who are now looking to go to college.” The keynote speaker for this year’s workshop will be Tim Rios, Senior Vice-President for Wells Fargo’s Social Responsibility Group.

The forum also features workshops for sixth, seventh, eighth graders, and as well as any interested high school students and their parents so they can get an early start on planning for their future.  The focus is on what classes to take for college preparation, study habits, extra-curricular activities and how important parent participation is to a student’s success.  For more information on the event contact the chamber office at 209-943-6117.