Liberty Tax Service creates awareness in Underserved Communities.

Liberty Tax Service is helping students and families in underserved communities throughout the United States realize their dream of advanced education by creating awareness of the Financial Student Aid program and offering FREE assistance with completing these applications through their offices nationwide.

In early 2010, Liberty’s Hispanic Programs Team met with the White House team leading the Initiative for Educational Excellence among Hispanic Americans and learned that there is a wide gap in awareness of the availability of Federal Student Aid for postsecondary education among households in minority communities throughout the United States. Additionally, completing these forms can be a daunting task for many in these communities. In meetings with the U.S. Department of Education, it was further established that creating awareness of federal student aid and assisting families to successfully navigate the application process has been identified as a key opportunity to realistically increase the postsecondary school attendance rate in the Hispanic community, as well as in other minority communities in the United States.

Over the span of three decades, the real, inflation-adjusted cost of tuition for private four-year colleges has more than doubled; tuition at public four-year institutions has nearly tripled. Consequently, making college affordable for all students is a top priority for the Obama Administration.

Inspired by the White House Initiative meetings and conversations, the Diversity Program’s Team at Liberty Tax Service realized that their local offices could help close the gap in awareness of and applications for Student Financial Aid in minority communities, and could do so in both Spanish and English across the nation. Since some of the information needed for applications comes from the applicants‚ or their family’s tax returns, Liberty Tax Service embarked on a mission to become a trusted resource for encouragement and assistance in applying for financial aid.

In weekly, 30-minute, Spanish-language educational radio shows in 29 markets across the U.S. sponsored and hosted by Liberty Tax Service‚s Una Familia Sin Fronteras initiative and Foundation, the availability of Federal Student Aid for postsecondary education was a frequent topic, with numerous call-ins from listeners with questions about qualification, as well as the application process. In March, Liberty also hosted Spanish-speaking representatives from the Department of Education as guests on many of these shows, allowing the voice of the FAFSA program to be shared with our educational alliances within the government.

“Education is a key component to the growth and economic strength of our Latino communities in the United States,” explains Martee Saldaña Pierson, Director of Diversity Programs for Liberty Tax Service. “For this reason, we created our Una Familia Sin Fronteras educational initiative and Foundation so we can bring FREE education to our Hispanic communities and do so in their own language. Our alliance with the White House Initiative Team has been instrumental in bringing vital education resources to our Hispanic neighbors, and we plan to continue pushing forward with this important program as we work together for the betterment of this emerging majority‚ that is our Hispanic population.”