District receives grant to encourage students to attend college

     Fort Plain is among 16 school districts in an eight county region to receive a College Access Challenge Grant through SUNY Cobleskill. The goal of this program is to increase the number of low-income students who apply for, enter, and succeed in educational programs after high school.    

      The CACG program will provide students and their families with academic and career counseling, mentoring, college campus visits, admissions and financial aid presentations, financial management workshops, and test preparation workshops.

     Students will enter the program by completing a short survey to determine their interests and goals in life. Students and parents will sign a contract that lists desired behaviors, achievable outcomes, and the services that will be provided to them.

      Beginning in September, mentors will work up to four hours each week as college preparation counselors. Sessions titled “Club College,” will have monthly themes including career planning, test preparation, college requirements, applying for financial aid, etc. The counselors will work to ensure that colleges are thoroughly researched, applications are submitted on time, essays are well-written, and financial aid applications are properly submitted. Parents will be invited and reminded to attend evening admissions and financial aid presentations.

        Some Club College presentations will be held in computer labs to ensure that students and parents make full use of websites to help with career choices, college searches, and the financial aid process.
       
        In the fall, CACG will use school buses to transport students and their families to tour college campuses within a 50-mile radius of their school. Also, motor coaches will be chartered to help qualified students explore more distant colleges throughout the state. During these college explorations, students in grades 9-12 will sit in on classes with their families, eat in college dining halls, and attend admissions / financial aid presentations.

      Shortly after January 1, all CACG parents, students, and guidance counselors will be invited to intensive line-by-line Free Application for Federal Student Aid workshops in their local schools.

        Guidance counselors will be allowed a $250 reimbursement to attend one approved professional workshop of their choice anywhere in the state.
The CACG is expected to serve about 1,420 students and their families in the eight-county region.

top