Parents and students alike can be worried about money when thinking about college, but due to FAFSA, the option of student aid is available for multiple students.

FAFSA, (also known as free application for federal student aid), is an application that potentially helps high school students pay for college, depending on what situation students  are in. Through federal funding, FAFSA uses grant money that you do not have to pay back to the government. 

This application is available every year of college and at the senior level of high school. In addition to receiving federal financial aid, students in college can earn scholarships to help support the student too. Scholarships come in many varieties and have deadlines that must be met like FAFSA.

The YC Aspire coordinator reminds seniors what they need to remember.

 “Every student senior needs to know to not miss their deadlines for applications and scholarships,” says Janet Herring-Sherman.

Scholarships are often based on academic merit or the GPA of students. Some scholarships are based on what students participate in  outside of school such as leadership skills, volunteer hours, sports, and just a multitude of things even , or being left handed (which is offered in states like Illinois.)

Chemeketa Community College, located in Oregon gives out the opportunity of $9,000 if a student’s GPA is at 3.5 or higher, meaning if students work harder to sustain and improve grades they will receive $9,000 for college.

The Oregon Promise is an opportunity for students living in Oregon, the requirements are having a grade that is meeting or above a 2.5. The Oregon promise gives two free years of college that must be used the year after you graduate or else the promise will not be given to the student.

As a senior going into college students have to take multiple tests such as the SAT, that assess their grade level. GPA is a strong factor to getting into college, but the student’s SAT scores may be the reason they are declined from a college. For seniors that have failed classes and need to recover their grade, the ability to still graduate and go to college is an option as long as the student puts in the effort.  

“ Only a few classes are online.” Senior Mattie Nauman says, “English [classes are] not. English is very hard to do offline due to the strict nature of gaining back those [credits].”

Lots of factors are important when graduating high school.  Getting into college can be difficult to handle, but the school is there to support students as well as college representatives who sometimes have high school visits.