Education Professional Trainings
Upcoming Webinars | In-Person Regional Trainings | Recorded Trainings
2025-2026 Upcoming Webinar Training
Join us for our virtual professional development trainings where all education professionals — school counselors, teachers, administrators, college admissions professionals, financial aid advisors, and others — are welcome. Topics include all aspects of the college going process. Continuing Education Units (CEU) are available; certificates will be sent out to each attendee after the scheduled webinar for a recommended 0.1 CEU. Ten webinars equal 1.0 CEU.
Time: 1:00 pm
Description: Colleges and universities will soon be sending out financial aid award offers to your students, and we want to help them compare all of the offers they may receive. Join us for a training session on how to help them figure out which college will make sense for them and their family's budget.
Time: 11:00 am
Description: Did you know that over 12,000 NC high school seniors didn’t complete the FAFSA until the summer after graduation? We want our students to receive financial help earlier in the year, so in this session, we’ll share how to use your FAFSA data strategically to identify students that need help, so they don’t miss out on funds for college they can qualify for. We will encourage you to set a FAFSA goal so that you can begin mobilizing support in your community to finish out the spring semester strong!
Time: 1:00 pm
Description: We have many exciting updates from the federal and state level to share with you, including recent FAFSA data, new FAFSA updates, state FAFSA progress, and an overview of state aid available to our students. If you missed one of our spring financial aid regional trainings, or would just like a refresher, join this session so that you can stay up-to-date on recent laws and trends.
Time: 1:00 pm
Description: This webinar will provide you an overview of NCcareers.org, where your students can find their interests, explore occupations, plan their careers, and discover the degrees needed to pursue them. Join us so that you can help your students find the right pathway for them!
Time: 1:00 pm
Description: Parent Academy is a unique program developed by College for North Carolina (CFNC) in partnership with Onslow County Schools to find ways to better engage parents and families of your students. Join us to learn more about this innovative program, ask questions, and spark ideas for engaging parents in your own schools.
Time: 1:00 pm
Description: Discover Boost, North Carolina’s new college to career support program designed to help community college students graduate within three years. Based on the nationally recognized, evidence based CUNY ASAP model—which has been shown to double community college graduation rates— Boost is now serving students at 15 North Carolina community colleges. Join us to learn how your students can enroll in Boost and take advantage of this powerful opportunity for college success.
In-Person Regional Trainings
These free, in-person trainings are designed for high school counselors, college access professionals, educators, and youth-serving community organizations who support students on their college and career journey.
February is Financial Aid Awareness Month, and we're celebrating by bringing a CFNC Financial Aid Regional Training right to your area! Join us at one of eight locations across the state to equip yourself with the tools, insights, and confidence to better support your students on their path to FAFSA completion and higher education attainment. You'll also leave with ready-to-use materials to power your FAFSA February events. A Continuing Education certificate for a recommended 0.6 CEU will be given to every counselor in attendance for their respective region.
Location: Meredith College
Recorded Trainings
Missed out on a webinar? This section will include every recorded webinar once they have concluded. Please share these with any colleagues who have also missed out on any webinars.
This informative session is designed to help educators make the most of CFNC's ProTools platform. This training will walk you through key features that support your work with students, including:
- Accessing student accounts and progress
- Learning more about the upcoming updates and new features for 2025-26
- Creating and managing student groups
- Using reports and data to guide college and career planning.
This session is designed specifically for educators to guide high school juniors and their parents through intentional post-high school planning, including workforce, college (2- & 4-year), and military options. This webinar empowers school teams to confidently present the structure, benefits, and implementation of the Next Step program so educators can leave informed and equipped to plan with students and parents.
Military families are eligible for various benefits and scholarships depending on their unique circumstances, but where can they turn for more information? While we don't expect you to be experts in military benefits, you can still play a key role in directing families to the right resources. This webinar will introduce you to essential military terminology and help you better understand the benefits available for your students in military families.
Paying for college is already stressful, but what if students don’t qualify for federal or state aid through the FAFSA? There are still ways for them to find the funding outside of just taking out loans, and this webinar will prepare you to help them with their search.
College research can be overwhelming for students and families. School counselors are great resources to help students narrow down the field and home in on the schools they want to apply to. This webinar will focus on how you can help students find the institutions that fit their desires and needs
In-state tuition could mean the difference for some students in whether or not they can afford college. In order to qualify for in-state tuition and state grants/scholarships, students need to complete their residency determination. This webinar will help you understand the NC Residency Determination Service (RDS) so you can help your students and families.
College Application week starts at 7:30 am on October 20 and ends on October 26 at 5:00 pm. Thousands of students across the state will begin submitting college applications through CFNC.org, and we are here to help you. We will go over how students can submit applications, request transcripts, write essays, and request letters of recommendation in an effective way, during CAW and beyond.
This webinar will provide an overview of the NC FAFSA Tracker and the Finish the FAFSA Report for counselors and advisors who are new to using the tools or who want a refresher. During this session, we will discuss important information regarding both tools, the data that feeds them, and best practice tips, all while answering your questions.
The 2026-2027 FAFSA is now live, and in this webinar, we're going to help you get familiar with it. We'll walk you through the screens your dependent students are likely to see so you can anticipate where your students might need more support. We'll also have folks answering questions through the Q&A, so join live to have your questions answered!