Don Siegel
As we complete another season in Project Coach, it is important to
take stock of some of the critical lessons that we learned during this year.
One involves how well PC is doing with regard to motivating and supporting our youth coaches' quests to continue their educations after graduating from high school. This
year, out of eleven seniors, ten have applied to and been accepted at colleges.
During our discussions with these coaches, we learned a great deal about how
they came to apply to and select various schools, a great deal more about how
difficult the process was for them, and about how relatively uninformed they
were about paying for school. Some also seemed very willing to incur large
debts upon college graduation, without really understanding what this would
mean once they graduated and began to support themselves. Consequently, one of
our goals for next year is to help juniors and seniors be more strategic and systematic
about their thinking and planning for college.
As part of this initiative I started to do some research about how
PC can help with this process, and came across a wonderful, free, web-based
tool called scholarships.com.
As I experimented with this site, I found it to be very easy to use, and much
more than simply a general listing of scholarships for which a student might
apply, but also an educational tool that can help a student to organize their
thoughts about college, and the information they need to collate for admission and
financial aid. To provide you with the flavor of this instrument I will describe
my experience with scholarships.com at each of the steps I took in learning
more about colleges that I might be interested in attending, how to apply,
their costs, and potential sources of financial aid.
a.
I started by clicking on Scholarship Search and then entered that I was a current student, a
high school junior in the Class of 2016, 17 years old, a resident of the U.S.,
and lived in Zip Code 01107. I also entered my email address, a password, and
that I wanted to be kept informed about scholarships via e-mail.
b.
A student information screen then opened, and I
completed the additional information requested; first and last names, gender,
GPA = 3.0, citizen = yes, marital status = single; address, ethnicity = Hispanic,
etc.
c.
The next screen requests information about your
ACT/SAT/Class Rank. I entered 400 for each of the SATs, and a class rank of 33
at Springfield Central High School.
d.
The next request was to identify some of the
colleges to which I intended to apply. I listed the following schools:
Westfield State, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Springfield College, Elms
College, Bay Path College, Western New England College, Smith College, Holyoke
Community College, and Springfield Technical Community College. I was not sure
what I would be majoring in, but clicked on the following possibilities: Biology,
Business, Education, Health Education & Promotion, Hotel & Restaurant
Management, and Physical Education, Sport & Physical Activity.
e.
I was then presented with a screen that
requested information about my artistic/athletic interests. I clicked on dance
and then indicated that I also played baseball, basketball, and volleyball.
f.
The next screen asked about whether I was interested
in scholarships based on financial need, to which I clicked - yes. For
household income, I scrolled down and entered $30,000 to $39,999, that I was
conducting the scholarship search for myself, and that I did not have an
affiliation with the military. The form also asked about whether I, or my
parent(s) had an affiliation with various occupations or interest groups. I did
not click on any of these, but learned that different occupation/interest groups
support various types of scholarships.
g.
The next screen requested information about
whether I was a member of any honors or student organizations. I did not click
on any of these. Various scholarship opportunities are also available here.
h.
I then was asked a number of questions about the
types of schools in which I was interested, whether I needed housing, whether the
school should be affiliated with a religion, and whether it should have an ROTC
program. I entered that I was interested in two-year and four-year schools, that
school size did not matter, that housing should be $3000 or less, that distance
from home should be between 0-50 miles, and religious affiliation = No, and
ROTC = No.
i.
After clicking, I got the results on all the
colleges that I had entered regarding their tuitions. They ranged from $3,574
for Holyoke Community College to $43,114 for Smith College. By clicking on the
hyperlink to each school, information on the costs of books and supplies, room
and board, and other expenses were also listed. For example, the tuition at
Westfield State was $8,694, and when I added books and supplies ($962), other
expenses ($1,845), and room and board ($9,795), the total came to $21,296.
Information on anticipated financial aid was also presented. Here I learned
that the average student received about $8527, and also took a loan of $6,565.
Consequently, students were expected to contribute the difference between costs
and various forms of financial aid (including loans) by contributing an
additional $6,204. These were just “ball park” figures, and depending upon need
and the ability to find additional scholarship aid, the out of pocket costs could
be less. For comparison, to go to and live nearby Holyoke Community College,
costs would be $16,594 (tuition = $3,574, room and board $7,200, other expenses
$4,220); average aid would be approximately $5,474. Anticipated loans would come
to $3,932, leaving the gap between costs and financial aid/loans at $7,188, a
bit more than at Westfield State. Of course, costs at both schools could be
significantly reduced by about half, if you lived at home and did not have to
pay room and board, bringing costs after scholarships and aid down to $2,974 at
Westfield State, and $3,920 at Holyoke Community College.
j.
Given all of this information, the next step was
to identify other scholarships that can help close the cost gaps so that loans
are minimized or eliminated, and out of pocket costs reduced. The program
identified a large array of scholarships for which I might qualify. Some
examples that I found were:
a.
Triple Impact Competitor Scholarships from The
Positive Coaching Alliance $1,000 - $2,000. This scholarship entails showing
the organization how involvement in sports helps to make an applicant better,
one’s teammates better, and making the game better. Current high school students
with a GPA of 2.5 are eligible to apply.
b.
COCA-COLA SCHOLARS PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIP - $20,000
for high schools students having a gpa of 3.0 or higher after their junior
year, and who are recognized for their
capacity to lead and serve, and their commitment to making a significant impact
on their schools and communities.
c.
Massachusetts Cash Grants program - The Cash Grant Program is designed to assist
needy students in meeting institutionally held charges such as mandatory fees
and non-state-supported tuition. It is a complementary program to the
Need-Based Tuition Waiver Program. The Cash Grant is designed as an offset of
the Tuition Waiver Program for the purpose of providing financial support to
those individuals who would be denied the opportunity for higher education.
d.
Community Foundation of Western
Massachusetts – up to $10,000 The
Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts administers 75 scholarship and
loan funds available to students from Western Massachusetts. Scholarship and
loan funds help students of the Pioneer Valley achieve their maximum potential
by making higher education available without regard to financial circumstance.
e.
Dell Scholars Program – up to $20,000. The Dell Scholars Program enables more
under-served students with financial need to achieve their greatest potential
through higher education. The Dell Scholars Program is offered to those high
school students participating in an approved AVID program (College
Readiness Program). The funding for each
Dell Scholar is substantial - $20,000. Students must have a 2.4 GPA and
plan to attend an accredited institution of higher education.
These were just a few of the scholarship
that were on the page generated by scholarships.com. There were many more
opportunities listed, which depended on a student’s particular background, their
academic record, and the area they wished to pursue in college.
The point of all of this is that selecting a
college and figuring out how to finance going to it should not be done haphazardly,
but by doing extensive research and developing a plan to get what one wants
from going to a particular school, while doing so at minimal cost. By playing around with scholarships.com in
middle school or early in one’s high school career, one can plot a course to
achieve such a goal. It will entail doing well academically, but also
affiliating with an array of clubs, teams, and interest groups that can widen
the scope of scholarships for which one one might subsequently qualify. My sense is that being part of Project Coach
will also be a wonderful addition to one’s resumé, as it aligns well with many
scholarships that require evidence of leadership, community service, and
working with underserved populations.