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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>WSSSC, please see below letter from Governor Jay Inslee’s office expressing gratitude to our colleges and especially our Financial Aid teams.<o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Dear Paul, Ruben, and Terri:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Please pass on
<b>sincerest thanks to your financial aid teams</b> from the Governor’s office. We recognize that they have been putting in a great deal of additional effort this year to create financial aid packages for current and potential students, and are also meeting
or talking with students who are having problems with getting their FAFSA submitted.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">With all the problems with the new FAFSA, it has been a very hard year, and we want them to know they are very much
<b>appreciated</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Thanks</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> also to the communications teams, IT teams, administrators, and other staff who are supporting
these efforts! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I particularly appreciate the fact that financial aid officers are meeting with students who have not been able to get their FAFSA submitted yet. The Governor went to a high
school in SW WA last week to encourage students to persist in filling out their FAFSA. Afterwards, I met with a student who was still unable to get her FAFSA through as her parents’ information was not going through. This student is a leader in her high school
and in the Latinx community, she has a job outside of school, and she performs very well academically. She has been accepted to WSU-Vancouver but is worried that she cannot afford to attend. It is students like her who could slip through the cracks this year.
The effort your financial aid teams are making when meeting with these students is helping to prevent that. Soon she will graduate high school and not have the support of her school system to help make connections. Not all students are confident enough to
reach out or even realize it is an option.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Fortunately, she attended the meeting with the Governor and Ed Esparza from WSU-Vancouver was there. He said he would connect her with the financial aid office.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">We have the most generous state financial aid program in the country (see the Executive Summary on page 2 and Table 12 on page 23 of this annual NASSGAP survey:
<a href="https://www.nassgapsurvey.com/survey_reports/2021-2022-53rd.pdf"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">2021-2022-53rd.pdf (nassgapsurvey.com)</span></a>, and we want all the students who are eligible to take advantage of it.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Governor’s letter to College Bound eligible students went out last week to encourage them to continue to persist in submitting their FAFSA or WASFA.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Thanks again for all you are doing at COP, SBCTC, and ICW and thanks to your institutions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Maddy Thompson<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">MADDY ARONEY THOMPSON
</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">(<i>She/her</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Senior Policy Advisor | Education and College Access<br>
Office of Governor Jay Inslee | Policy Office | Desk: 360.870.7619 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:#0033CC"><a href="http://www.governor.wa.gov/"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0033CC">www.governor.wa.gov</span></a> | <u><a href="mailto:maddy.thompson@gov.wa.gov"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0033CC">maddy.thompson@gov.wa.gov</span></a></u></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WaStateGov"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_6" src="cid:image001.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><a href="https://twitter.com/GovInslee"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image002.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/govinslee/sets"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image003.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/govinslee/"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image004.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><a href="https://medium.com/wagovernor"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image005.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><a href="https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WAGOV/subscriber/new"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="30" height="28" style="width:.3125in;height:.2916in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image006.png@01DAA2C9.3D30DE70"></span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Email communications with state employees are public records and may be subject to disclosure, pursuant to Ch. 42.56 RCW</span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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