November 2010 Issue

Georgia High School Seniors Got a Jump Start on a Degree with Georgia Apply to College Week

The very idea of attending college can be overwhelming, especially without any help. If students didn’t know where or how to start, then Georgia Apply to College Week (Nov. 8-12) offered help.

Governor Sonny Perdue proclaimed November Georgia Apply to College Month in an effort to encourage college participation for high school and non-traditional age students. Georgia Apply to College Week (GACW) specifically focused on high-school students using http://www.GACollege411.org/ to apply to colleges throughout Georgia.

Georgia Apply to College Week was held at 109 participating Georgia high schools, representing 65 counties. While open to all seniors at those schools, there was special focus on providing assistance to first generation and economically disadvantaged students as they navigate the college application process.

GACollege411is an online resource that helps students and their families: select a college, apply for admission and plan to finance higher education. The GAcollege411 website offers access to information about colleges, universities, and technical colleges throughout Georgia. Volunteers from the participating agencies/organizations, Georgia’s colleges and universities, and the community were on-hand to assist students as they completed their applications.

“This was a home-grown effort that reached out to students. It was a tremendous program and it is important to keep expanding in future years,” said USG Chancellor Erroll B. Davis Jr.

At the first Georgia Apply to College Week in 2008, more than 50 volunteers assisted almost 900 students with completing admission applications at eight pilot high schools. In 2009, over 200 volunteers provided assistance, many of who supported multiple events and therefore filling about 475 volunteer slots. This year, almost 350 volunteer registrations were received.

This week of events was sponsored by the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Foundation of Independent Colleges, the Georgia Student Finance Commission, Communities in Schools, the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia (USG), and endorsed by the Georgia Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The event received funding from the College Access Challenge Grant, a federal program that fosters partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and philanthropic organizations through matching challenge grants that are aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

Editor’s Note: A list of the 109 officially participating schools and the seven unofficially participating schools can be found at: http://www.usg.edu/apply-to-college/.

The opinions and positions expressed in this press release are the authors’ and do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the U.S. Department of Education. Any references within the document to specific education products are illustrative and do not imply endorsement of these products to the exclusion of other products that are not referenced.