Jan Smith: Higher Education Blues

We’ve all been there – after months of preparation, our student passes the GED exam and has great plans to go to college only to be discouraged by the amount of paperwork required for admissions, financial aid, and class registration.

In addition, funding a postsecondary education can be overwhelming especially for non-traditional students who have had to overcome many barriers already to get to this point of their education.

As counselors, tutors, and instructors for Adult Ed/ESOL students, you play an important role in transitioning your students to higher education.  Rather than re-creating the wheel, use the following FREE resources and ideas to help guide your students through the financial aid maze:

1)  Consider having an OSFA Outreach Representative visit your classroom.  The Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), Florida Department of Education, administers state grants and scholarships for Florida.  An Outreach Representative is available to speak directly with your students about financial aid options and other financial literacy topics such as budgeting, managing credit, school and life management, searching for scholarships, and more.

Did you know that the Bright Futures Scholarship is available for GED students too?  Students must apply and meet general eligibility requirements BEFORE taking the GED exam to be considered.  For more information, please visit their website.

To learn more about OSFA’s free resources and locate an Outreach    Representative near you, please visit www.navigatingyourfuture.org.

2)  The U.S. Department of Education offers guidance through its websitewww.StudentAid.ed.gov.  Select “Non-Traditional Students” to find a step by step guide for approaching higher education.

3)  The Federal Trade Commission offers many free resources and lists scholarship scams reported to the agency.  For more information, please visitwww.ftc.gov and search for “scholarship scams” to read the latest reports of fraudulent activity.

4)  Consider organizing a “Searching for Scholarships” group that meets weekly and allows students to help each other with applications and essays.