All of our students have access to Family Connection(Naviance). They need to establish their own password, but once they do that they can access the scholarship opportunities that are run through the counseling office.
Many colleges and universities send information on their institutional scholarships. Not all of them are based strictly on academics. Check with the college or with Mrs. Avery, your counselor to see whether you might qualify for one. There are extensive scholarships offered at UC Davis; Calvin College has six renewable scholarships of $2500 that they offer. The Art Institute of California-San Diego offers scholarships in each of their programs that range from $5000 to 20,000. The list goes on. . .
According to one source, there are a number of colleges that offer full tuition to all of their students. Among those colleges are the College of the Ozarks, a Christian college with about 1400 students; Berea College in Kentucky is another; Drexel University offers wonderful co-op programs that help pay for students' college costs. Cooper Union offers to waive tuition for the 300 or so that they admit for Architecture, Art or Engineering.
Many private colleges use the information on the CSS Profile. You need to file this earlier in the year than the FAFSA. It asks for information that is not on the FAFSA. The earlier colleges get that information the sooner you will be considered for scholarships and aid. Please make it a point to find out whether the colleges to which you are applying will want the CSS Profile and fill that out in Fall.
Most colleges will start assessing your qualifications for assistance when they receive the information that the federal government sends to them based on the FAFSA (if they are one of the ten colleges designated on your FAFSA on the web. If you want to change any of those 10 designated colleges when you receive your SAR, you can do that. Just remember to leave one California college on that list so that you will be considered for a Cal Grant.) Filing the FAFSA in January is a good idea. Many colleges will ask you for additional information. Be sure to watch for any requests from the Financial Aid Office at your chosen college.
If you are planning to attend a California college, please file your FAFSA by March 2 -- earlier is better!!! The Cal Grant is a wonderful financial boon for those who qualify. Please note: We file GPA verifications for our ENTIRE senior class; you do not need to do the GPA verification for yourself.
The two most popular websites for scholarship searches are www.finaid.org and www.fastweb.com. We recommend entering data into these searches early and applying to as many scholarships as you can, as early as you can.
In addition to all of this there is a file in the counseling center with scholarship lists and there is an entire bookshelf there, devoted to financial aid.