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The SAT scores are in, the essays are written, and the applications have been mailed, but the pressure and stress of financing a college education still remains.
The current economic climate has made money very tight in households. Even with tax returns and stimulus packages thrown into communities, many families struggle to pay college tuition.
Politicians often speak of how education is an important concern. Yet, education is used to create a convincing political agenda, and communication is often just words and no action.
Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Hughes is among the few who are providing various resources to help relieve this burden off of Philadelphia families. He hosted the “Show Me the Money-the Roadmap to Financial Aid for College” conference at the High School of the Future in West Philadelphia. This one-day conference offered panel discussions and workshops by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), the Campaign for Working Families, the Philadelphia School District-Office of College and Career Awareness and the Mayor’s Office of Education.
“We must ensure that students and parents have the dollars, information, and other resources they need to make positive contributions to the community-at-large. Our Show Me the Money conferences are designed with these goals in mind,” Hughes said.
Hughes has spent his legislative career focused on higher education issues. As a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA), the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (SSHE), and the Council of Trustees of Cheyney University, Hughes is committed to education.
Additionally, Hughes created the James Hughes Memorial Scholarship Fund, in honor of his father. Over the past decade, the fund has raised approximately $1 million for Philadelphia high school students. Eighty scholarships have been given out since its existence.
“Accessing high quality affordable education is inextricably tied to a young person’s ability to compete successfully in the global marketplace,” Hughes said.
According to the 2009-2010 reports from the College Board, “more than $168 billion in financial aid is available to students and their families.” The report also mentions “about two-thirds of all full-time undergraduate students receive grant aid.”
Associate Director of Financial Aid at Rosemont College Sarah Fevig has spent her 20-year career dealing with families worrying about financing their children’s college education.
Fevig encourages parents and students to start the search for aid with scholarships. The next step is to fill out the free United States Department of Education Federal Student Aid (FASFA). This is the free application for federal aid. It uses income tax information from parents or from students if their working. FASFA calculates a score for colleges to determine what kind of aid students qualify for—this is called the Expected Family Contribution.
“FASFA is one of the most reliable sources for aid for a student entering college,” Fevig said.
Nikoya Black is a mother of a West Catholic High School ninth grader. She already pays approximately $650 a month for her son’s high school education. Her son is an active baseball player and has goals of attending Stanford University. However, Black’s Show Me the Money souvenir bag was filled with information on how to pay for a higher education.
“He’s very into the college process. I will use this information for him and [myself] because I was thinking about going to school too,” Black said.
Mykina Simmons of West Philadelphia also attended the conference. She has a brother who is a senior in high school, but does not receive much information about financing his college education from his school or guidance counselor.
“I really haven’t heard too much information from him saying that they were going to help him find scholarships. His guidance counselor is sometimes unavailable to him,” Simmons said.
Her brother is involved in various basketball leagues, but academics come first in their household.
“Sometimes the recreation centers were he plays basketball, points him into the right direction. The community outreach is better than the school in that aspect,” Simmons said.
Simmons received encouragement for herself, too. She wants to return to school. Two years of her college experience was spent at Lincoln University, but she did not feel apart of the college community. She does not want to finish at Lincoln, but rather find a different institution.
Andria Mebane, an 11th graders at Charter High of Architecture and Design, learned a lot about essay writing.
“You have to write down key points about yourself, [because] you’re selling yourself in the essay,” Mebane said.
She also gathered information on how to use Internet search engines to look for scholarships. For example, she was taught to use FastWeb.com.
Despite her school focusing on the current senior class, Mebane and other 11th graders are focused on the state standardized tests—PSSAs—and the SATs. Even so, Mebane knows that she wants to attend an all female university and plans to study psychology and minor in history.
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I agree that public schools could offer students more scholarship information. Students would benefit immensely from access to scholarship databases and scholarship essay prep. I made a website https://randomscholarshipsonline.com addressing issues that students face when applying for scholarships.