Nick Opich, the associate vice president of communications for College Ready AZ, said that once students complete the FAFSA, higher education becomes more accessible.

Students are sometimes shocked when looking at school prices, but FAFSA allows them to learn what it would actually cost them to go to college, Opich said. 

College Ready AZ hit its goal from last year to get 48% of seniors to submit a FAFSA application and is working to increase that percentage this year, Opich said. 

“No one organization owns college-going in the state of Arizona. It really is a group effort,” Opich said. “It takes everyone pulling in the same direction, and so, from here, it's about making connections with different organizations that maybe can help students that you have.”

College Ready AZ invited Breanna Lietz, director of public enterprise strategies initiatives at Arizona State University’s Office of the Chief Operating Officer, to speak at the conference.   

Lietz said in her speech that she is a former foster care child and a first-generation college graduate. 

She said one reason she agreed to do the speech is because guidance counselors and teachers have a special place in her heart.

In her speech Lietz said she had known her guidance counselor, Mr. Star, since her sophomore year when she told him she thought she needed to make a report to the Department of Child Safety. 

Mr. Star made the call with her and would make time to support her when police officers or social workers came to school, she said.

Lietz said that she never really thought about college until Mr. Star became her “sounding board” for academics. 

“He talked to me about college. He didn't really even ask if I wanted to go to college. He talked to me with the assumption that I was,” Lietz said in her speech.

Mr. Star researched the resources available to her when she started her college journey, Lietz explained. 

Lietz attributed her college journey at ASU to Mr. Star and they still keep in touch to this day.

Lietz said she graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work and a double masters in social work and public administration. 

“One person really makes a difference in someone's life,” Lietz said in an interview. 

Ashley Moon, a teacher at Queen Creek School District, said she attended the conference because filing the FAFSA is an intimidating process, even though it has been simplified over the years. 

“I want to be able to be well prepared to walk them through it so that they don't feel overwhelmed and give them as much guidance as I can,” said Moon.

Andrea Popejoy, a teacher within the Arizona Agribusiness and Equine Center School District, said she wants to become more knowledgeable about how to help homeless students.

Popejoy said that what she learned at the conference will help her students better understand FAFSA and, hopefully, secure the resources they need to go to college. 

The FAFSA application opens on Oct. 1 and current seniors should fill out the 2027-28 form to get financial aid offers.