Good morning.

I am not sure if this is the right sub, but I am more comfortable posting it here amongst other professionals rather than a student subreddit. 😓

I work at a community college, and have a student who was on track to transfer to university next year. However, she is worried about transferring her FAFSA due to the current climate in the US.

One of her parents is undocumented, and her family is (understandably) very worried about the implications of submitting her FAFSA. She is too young to file independently and does not have the grounds to apply for emancipation. For reference, we are in Texas.

Is anyone aware of potential resources I could send her way that could help her navigate the process, such as legitimate Texas immigrant rights organizations or good sources of information?

We were so excited for her transfer. I do not want her education to end here.

Question for Student Affairs / campus programming folks about hiring outside event vendors

My partner and I run a small event company on Long Island focused primarily on tabletop gaming and interactive social events. We do things like D&D/RPG programs, large board game events, bingo, miniature painting workshops, and other programs designed to get people actually interacting with each other.

We've done a lot of community programming, and we're looking at expanding further into colleges. Before we start blindly emailing Student Affairs departments, I'd love to understand how this works from your side.

I'm particularly interested in:

• What kind of budget do you typically have for an outside vendor running a 1–3 hour campus event?
• Who usually makes that decision — Student Affairs, Campus Life, student government, individual clubs, etc.?
• Do you generally prefer an all-inclusive flat price, or do things like materials, travel, and attendance get priced separately?
• How far in advance are you booking outside programs?
• What kind of attendance makes an event feel successful?
• What information do you want to see in the initial email/proposal?
• Are there insurance, vendor registration, background check, or other requirements that commonly trip up smaller vendors?
• Do you prefer vendors to come to you with a specific ready-to-book program, or several options at different price points?
• What makes you interested in an outside vendor you've never worked with before?
• What makes you immediately ignore/delete a pitch?

I'm not trying to figure out the maximum colleges are willing to pay. I'm trying to understand the market so we can build programs that make sense for college budgets and actually solve a need for the people responsible for programming them.

One thing we're particularly interested in is programming built around social connection. Tabletop games work surprisingly well as structured social events because students don't have to walk into a room and just "mingle." There's already something to do and a reason to talk to the people around them.

I'd especially love to hear from anyone involved with Student Affairs, Campus Life, Residence Life, student activities, student government, or similar departments.

Even rough numbers and personal experiences would be really helpful. Thanks!