Monthly Archives: February 2018

NACAC News

Imagine Grant Helps Students Explore Postsecondary Options

Post-Secondary Readiness through Intervention, Mentoring, and Exposure (PRIME) Summer College Readiness Workshop and Tour students pose during the summer 2017 program. Submitted by Kimberly McGuire

Once counselor and Imagine Grant recipient Kimberly McGuire noticed an ongoing problem in her district, she couldn’t let it go. She knew she had to find a way to help students stay focused on their goal of college attendance.

“A lot of times counselors get pulled outside of their role during the school year. We thought, if we could start over the summer, perhaps we could inspire these students throughout the year to maintain contact with their counselors and give them the tools so they can start the research on their own,” McGuire said.

“We just see so many gaps. This is something that’s needed.”

McGuire, along with fellow Savannah-Chatham County public school counselors Kim Jackson-Allen and Chiquita Polite, developed the Post-Secondary Readiness through Intervention, Mentoring, and Exposure (PRIME) Summer College Readiness Workshop and Tour.

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Access, College Readiness

First-Gen Students Less Likely to Access Rigorous Coursework in High School

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The challenges faced by first-generation college students are well-documented, and according to new data, some of those hurdles begin to crop up in high school.

A research brief from the National Center for Education Statistics found that students whose parents did not go to college were less likely to enroll in challenging high school courses than their peers.

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Advocacy, NACAC News

ICYMI: NACAC Opposes Trump Budget Proposal

The White House

In a statement released earlier this week, NACAC voiced opposition to President Trump’s budget proposal, noting that the plan “stortchanged” students at all levels.

The proposal cuts funding for the Department of Education by 10.5 percent in fiscal year 2019 and abolishes several critical programs that help make college more affordable.

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Financial Aid

Completing a Dependency Appeal for Financial Aid

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Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on Admitted in November 2016. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.

You may be advising a student who lives with their grandmother or aunt, but was never legally adopted. In other instances, an older brother, sister, or family friend is raising a child but no official adoption took place.

For some families, this approach may have offered a way to handle conflicts and crises without involving the court system. However, complications can arise when it comes time to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

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Financial Aid

6 Ways Colleges and Universities Award Financial Aid

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iStock

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on Admitted in November 2016. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.

When parents and students complete financial aid and scholarship applications they hope the end result provides a significant amount of funding.

Net price calculators and other tools can help predict a student’s projected cost of attendance. But too often, families wait until the initial financial aid award letters arrive from colleges and then wonder how to finance the gap between what was offered and their own resources.

Help the families you serve by familiarizing yourself with the most common methods used by colleges to award financial aid. By reviewing a college’s website, talking to a school representative, or even taking a campus tour, you can gain knowledge about the institution’s approach to helping families fund a college education.

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Access, College Admission, NACAC News

#NACACreads: Join Our Next Discussion

From identifying right-fit schools to securing financial aid and selecting classes — success in higher education is intrinsically linked to a student’s ability to make informed decisions about their future and follow through on their plans.

Discuss new ways to help students navigate this critical process during an April 18 #NACACreads chat with Benjamin Castleman, author of The 160-Character Solution: How Text Messages and Other Behavioral Strategies Can Improve Education.

Continue reading #NACACreads: Join Our Next Discussion →