Getting financial aid for college can be challenging and sometimes overwhelming for students.
Across the state, according to College Board, public universities cost anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Private schools can cost well over $50,000.
There are many scholarships to help offset the cost, but searching and finding ones you fit the criteria for can be tricky.
One website makes it much easier, and Tussey Mountain High School students are taking advantage of it.
“It’s a very good way to keep track of your grades, keep track of what community service you’re doing, your activities,” said principal Janelle Henderson. “If you can earn money along the way… it’s a win-win situation.”
The website is called raise.me. Tussey Mountain 9th graders sign up in their career education class.
“The profile you make on this website,” said senior Chloe Soliday, scrolling through a page. “Then they’ll say ‘Oh well this school will offer you this much money for this achievement.”
Soliday got on the website last year and started listing all of her grades, extra-curricular activities, test scores. You name it, it’s on her profile. She thinks it’s something every high school student should do.
“The time that they spend and all of the hard work that they give to school and the time that they dedicate to their sports and activities is worth taking, you know, the small amount of time that it takes to put into the computer what you’ve done,” Soliday said.
Soliday is following 61 schools. If she gets accepted to one she’s following and commits, she can secure the money she earned through a financial aid package.
“There were certain schools that I didn’t know about that I learned about from this website,” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I want to check out this school now because they’re offering me this scholarship and so I want to go this website and see what they offer in their academic programs.'”
She said it has made it much easier to find a school that is the perfect fit for her and her budget.
“You’re not competing with other students to be the best, you know,” she said. “You get these things because of what you’ve done.”
To check out the website and sign up, click here: https://www.raise.me/