The process of selecting and applying for colleges, learning about financial aid and scholarships, and deciding what school is the best fit can be overwhelming for any high schooler. At SEED, students and their families start learning about college affordability well before the acceptance letters start rolling in. Knowledge about financial aid and scholarships help students and their families make choices that best meet their financial needs and can help to avoid potential pitfalls to college completion.
“College completion is our North Star, and a lever in the college completion process is college affordability,” shared Vincena Allen, chief growth officer at The SEED Foundation, and lead of our college access and success work across the network and with external partners. Starting junior year in high school and continuing through college graduation, SEED students and their families participate in financial education with their college counselors and CTS advisors. In their junior year, SEED students and their families participate in workshops, where they develop financial literacy. They learn about college affordability and other important financial skills such as banking, budgeting, credit, and saving. These are skills that they will apply through and beyond college.
In our students’ senior year, CTS staff work one-on-one with each student as they apply for financial aid and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Filling out the FAFSA is a critical step in the college financing process, since it determines a student’s eligibility for federal, state, and institutional aid. Last year, 100% of SEED seniors completed the FAFSA, well over the 57% national average.
Students leave the workshops with identified sources of federal and state aid, grants, and scholarships that will help fund their college journey. But our team takes our support a step further. In addition to financial education and aid workshops, SEED’s college advisors also work with our students to select a school that is the best fit for them. “We educate students about the true costs of college so that they can be informed consumers,” Ms. Allen says.
When students are evaluating which of the colleges they were accepted to, advisors take time to talk to each graduate about their bills, help them understand the additional costs such as meal plans, travel, books, lab fees, and other essentials that are not necessarily put forward in a financial package but can quickly mount up. Students learn that just because you have aid does not mean every cost is covered.
Our goal is to help our students graduate with financial freedom. To learn more about our programming offered to our students and graduates, click here.