Free money for college. 

This year a new form was introduced to the college landscape in the form of an updated 2024 - 2025 Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Application. While the system has had learning curves, please note it is not too late apply. The deadlines vary from state to state. The federal deadline is June 30, 2025. 
It is awarded, typically, on a first come- first served basis. 

I gave a small presentation on the FAFSA a while back and wanted to share the highlights of my presentation in case you're looking for additional understanding of one perspective and reason as to why considering applying for the FAFSA may be a step to take during your college experience. 

It is free money. You may qualify for aid.  It is awarded, typically, on a first come- first served basis. 

Presentation: 
Community Class: FAFSA 101
Classe de Comunidad: FAFSA 101

If you are a first generation, or even if other family members have been here, but the time if coming now for you to know what offers are on the table. 
My advice: unless you're positive- take all the time you need to make your final choice of which college you're going to attend  and more importantly for what reasons. There is no need to rush such an important decision. College is an investment of time, talents, resources and money- be sure of what you are getting in and have a better of what your responsibilities. 

It is fall in Ohio.... the leaves are turning and so should your focus in case you're not already focusing on financial aid. Financial aid is a term that is used to include all ways to pay for an education; there are several. 

LatinosGoToCollege provides tips for navigating both the admissions process and the financial aid process; which are two processes that are separate, but often times tied to each other.  Check out our Students page. 

Below are highlights from the topics found in our brochures: 

3 Types of Financial Aid: 

Interested in Free money? Check out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. FASFA provides money from the federal government and includes grants and federal loans.  Grants do not have to be paid back,. You Must complete the FASFA application which becomes available every year on October 1st.  Deadlines vary by school, but it is better to complete the application early and you can complete them well before the deadline by using the prior year's tax information. 

Government loans can be subsidized and unsubsidized.  Subsidized loans are recommended. Governmental loans, unless forgiven, have to be repaid, often with interest. 

Private Loans: money that private lenders provide to students, Criteria vary. Have to be repaid. 

Institutional aid/ scholarships- organizations often have a variety of institutional financial aid, including merit and diversity scholarships. There can also be money tied to alumni organizations for he college or university. 

Scholarships: Free money. Scholarships are not to be paid back and can be provided by individuals and organizations. (for colleges/ universities, see institutional aid) There are tens of thousands of options available both locally and nationally. There is an art to looking for scholarships, all scholarships will have their own application process.  Apply early and apply often!

Want more tips? Our Students page to download a brochure about the admissions and financial aid process.

Scholarships. Paying for college.

Most students have questions about this when I work with them. Number one question most families ask me. 

How can you go if you can't pay. 

With a phase I  deadline of September 15th, the Gates scholarship is an  important scholarship to consider if you meet the eligibility. You can read more about The Gates Scholarship here.

TIPS for applying for the Gates Scholarship: 

• start early
•  stay organized
•  find a mentor, or a few
• stick with it
•  own your story 

And don't forget to apply before September 15th! Deadlines matter.

Hello. About ten years ago, and for a couple of years, I served as a selection committee member for the Gates  Millennium Scholars Program, this was a program which allowed me to come together with other brilliant-minded educators - selecting the next class of scholars that would change the world. They would have everything at their finger tips. 

This was a empowering week-  reading their stories; hopes and dreams. 

And yet it could have been me. 

Not in a I want it, although had I been aware of the opportunity, I probably would have been VERY interested. 

But, that these students who are taking a hold of their narrative and making it work in their favor. 

And that is what you have to do. Take a hold of your education, take a hold of your future and command your narrative to help your craft the outcomes that behold you. 

Admissions has a rhythm a song and dance of sorts that you get to know over the course of working in the education field. 

The month of May is met with so many endings- graduations, ways of life, end goals. Things will shift and start anew in the blink of an eye. And so whether you're a newly minted high school graduate, or a non traditional student looking to go back to college, I want you to be ware of a few things that tend to take place in the month of May that can help you with college planning. 

High school Juniors- May/ June think about where you want to apply, admissions application typically become available for high school seniors the summer before their senior year.  Also start looking for scholarships as many will become available during this time. 

Newly graduated seniors- keep an eye out for orientation/ scheduling information. 

Non traditional students, try giving admissions a call, Summer is typically a slower period for admissions staff. 

These are just some quick tips to get you started! 

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​Choosing a major. This is an important decision for students who are in or going to college. There may even be anxiety which accompanies this decision. But what if we start to look at it a different way? 


I was talking with a student and they were telling me which majors they were considering and something just didn't feel right. When I asked them why they were interested in a specific major, they started to give me a spoon fed answer. Again warning bells were going off. 

I stopped the student and said "ok, what if all of the majors you're considering all paid the same, would you still consider them?" The student answered, "No, I'd actually consider something completely different."

I started to dig a little deeper: what do you like doing? What are you good at? What do others say you're good at? 

At the end of the conversation, the student ended up considering two new majors that seemed like a better fit. 

The purpose of sharing this story is to highlight the way in which most students view a major: as a paycheck. And while earning potential is important, there are other things that should be taken into account.  

For example, if you're looking into going into engineering and hate math and the sciences, it's probably not a good choice. You'll more than likely not receive the grades you want and it may take you longer to finish school, which might mean more money. 

Also, with majors, it is important to realize that once you've selected a major, it isn't your only option. You can switch at any point, although I would recommend you be strategic about the process. 

If you're unsure of which path to take, start with asking yourself this question: 

What subject am do I excel in or do I enjoy in high school?
This question is important to ask, because it'll give you a better sense of where to start if you're stuck and guide you in the right direction. 

Of course there are other questions to consider as well such as: 
Do people with my major go on to graduate school? This might mean going to school after you graduate college. 
What careers are typically associated with my major?
What is the rate of students (with my major) who find a job in their field after graduation?
On average, what is the salary for people in my major? And yes, asking about potential income earnings is also important, I just wanted to stress that it's not the only thing you should consider. 


At the end of the day, choosing a major is deciding what's best for you, what makes you happy. 

Last night I was on the phone with my nephew who is a senior in high school and he asked me "what tips do you have for scholarships?"

I thought, a lot. Yet, in all of my capacities of reading and scoring scholarship applications (which has easily been thousands) there are five tips that I suggest: 

1). Let your "voice" come through. 
                 - This can be hard because what exactly your voice in an essay is? I like to say it's the moment when you speak from your heart, which can be a scary thing to do, especially if you feel self-conscious. My best advice? For your first draft, take the essay question and free-write. Write until you think you've fully answered the question and then let those whose advice you trust read it so that they can help you identify your voice. When I edit essays for people, it might be just a couple sentences that I circle and say this is it- "this is what you should write about. Expand on this." And I usually follow that with the questions: how and/or why to help the essay writer as they follow that voice. Try it and the more you do it, the better you'll become.  This process takes time, so start early. 

2). For your final draft-stay on topic, and please, please don't give me a rundown of your resume. 
                      - Make sure to answer all part of the essay to the best of your ability. As for the resume part, let's just say most scholarship applications require a resume. I'm not suggesting not to include any accomplishments that you're proud of and which help you answer the question, please add those in! If you're not sure if you're giving a full on summary of your resume: again ask someone that knows you for advice. 

3). Give examples. 
                  - What I do I mean?  Say you're writing an essay and you're trying to explain why you think it's important to give back to your community. As a reviewer, I usually think, "ok, so I hope you can provide me with at least an example of how you've given back (and saying you only did a good deed once isn't what I'm looking for)." I once worked with a student who had a very limited resume because she had responsibilities at home and she was really down on not being able to provide examples of how she gave back to her community. My answer: don't you think that being responsible and helping to take care of your younger siblings is giving back to your community? In her essay, she went on to explain that helping keep her siblings on the right track not only helped them, but also their community in the long run. 

4). Keep the focus on you.
                 - This little nugget of knowledge just means that if two-thirds of your essay is talking about your grandparents/ and or parents and their struggles, then it may cause me to want to give them the scholarship. Not sure what I mean by this? Have someone read your essay and ask them: who would you give this to me or my (my grandparents, mother, teacher etc.). 

5). Proofread. 
            - I love writing but I hate proofreading so I know it can be a pain, but think about it: if you've worked this hard for something, shouldn't you at least see it through to the end? Read it yourself, read it out loud and have other people read it. Also revise, write, walk away and then come back to proof read. It just works out better. This also means you have to start early. 

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The fear of the unknown is powerful. It can cause you to do what is necessary to succeed, or cause you to shut down and run. It's good old flight or fight that I'm talking about. 

Why am I talking about fear on a blog that's supposed to be about college? Because fear is one of the biggest obstacles you'll have to conquer in college, especially if you are a first-generation college student.  Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of your own power and potential. 

But the message of today's blog is to encourage you to push past the fear. To go for it- to try it anyways. 

And I think that's a message that a lot of students, especially high school students, don't hear. 

The other night, I was facilitating a workshop and I happened to ask how many people were scared of college, and the conversation took off. Think about it. How many of you have heard "college isn't like high school"? How many of you know of at least one person who went off to college and had to come home? 

College isn't a gladiator battle of intelligence, it's a process through which an individual (you) find the ability to confront an obstacle and overcome it. And the secret to being successful is realizing that you've already faced a gazillion challenges and have overcome them (at least enough to progress forward). And that's the honest, yet simple, truth. 

Take it from someone who has first-hand experience, and has literally advised hundreds of students: take the mountain (college) and break it up into smaller pieces (pieces or instances where you make the best choice possible). 

It's about changing your way of thinking and how you approach the situation, and this takes time and practice., but as the saying goes, practice makes perfect. 

At the end of the day, take stock of all the things you have accomplished in spite of fear. Asking someone out, running for student government, trying out for the team, etc. 

If fear didn't stop you then, why should it now? 

​I love to write and between my assignments and endless journals, I have written many words, strung together to make up sentences. But one of the sentences in a statement I wrote sticks out like no other "Sometimes getting into college proves to be a barrier in and of itself". There are many reasons as to why I remember this phrase, but perhaps the biggest reason was one that I was reminded of today as I read an article entitled, "A College Adviser in Every School".  
       The article itself shed light on college advising in high schools and the fact that there is more that can be done. And I don't imagine there is a single sentence in that entire article that I didn't agree with, but that isn't the point of this post. If you are a student, parents, educator, caring adult, I want you to know that it is in each other that we will find the answers we need to move on to the next level; whatever that may be. 
        One of the resources that I have in the students and parents section is called My Map to College and it is simply a booklet with phrases that are popular in the worlds of admissions, financial aid and college, While it provides some guidance, what it really provides is a key terms that you may want to consider when trying to navigate the process. But a hidden feature of the booklet is that it empowers the students and parents. It gives you the terms, but it's up to you figure out the reason why that term is important. And those reasons are different for everyone. 
        By providing the outline but not a checklist, students and parents have the opportunity explore how their experiences and situations fit within the scheme of higher education. The booklet also directly invites students (and their families) to seek the counsel of others, people they trust to help them build their map to college.
            So you see, maybe this theme of coming together, sharing our stories- our hopes- our dreams, can help change out outcomes of educational attainment of Latinos; one student at a time.