College Planning

Important Information

Applying to College

*Students can get college application fees waived from October 6-8th in 20245 if they apply to a qualifying Kansas college/university during this time

*If a student has financial need Mrs. Ackerman can help them with application fees at other times as well. If your family's adjusted gross income is under $100,000 you may want to consider sharing that with Mrs. Ackerman so she can point you and your child to those scholarships.

Paying for College

*Click the scholarship button above to view a list of scholarships that are relevant to our area

*Students are encouraged to use scholarship search engines such as Going Merry. Xello is also adding a scholarship feature we can hopefully learn more about this school year.

*I also post this list to the Class of 2026 Google Classroom page students have access to

*Click the college planning resource for links to resources that may benefit you

*Please do not hesitate to ask me questions or reach out to financial aid offices for more information on grants, loans or scholarships

FAFSA

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is an application students and parents can fill out to get financial aid for college. By law, it is to open October 1st. In order to complete the FAFSA the student and at least one parent (in some cases both parents need one) need to create a studentaid.gov account (formally FSA ID). Parents who have had one in the past may be able to use that same ID. The new FAFSA form is supposed to simplified however please do your research and reach out to the financial aid offices of schools you are interested in to get help with specific questions regarding the FAFSA.

*Things to gather prior to filling out the 2026-2027 FAFSA. 

-Social Security Number

-Driver's License Number

-2024 Federal Income Tax Return 

-Records of any untaxed income

-Records of any assets and investments 

-School Codes for any colleges you are interested in  applying to

-Bank Statements

-Cell Phone Number

-Personal email address (do not use your USD            381 email or your parents email, create your own personal email. Student and parents each             need their own email.)

*I have heard presenters suggest making a copy of all the statements and information you gather data from for the FAFSA and keeping the copies in a FAFSA folder where you also write down your log-in information and the email addresses used.

*If your financial situation has changed since you completed your taxes you are encouraged to call the financial aid office of the school you are going to and ask them about how they can help you through this special circumstances (examples: loss/change of job, medical expenses). The college can work with you and make a professional judgement to determine if adjustments to your aid offer can be made. I have had one parent call without any major changes but asked if there were any other options and they were able to find them more money.