The Texas OnCourse Educator Blog

“Why should my child or my family apply for FAFSA if we are not low income?” As a parent and educator, I am asked this question often. My response comes from personal experience working with college-bound students and their families for the past 25 years.

It’s that time of year where we are tasked with supporting our students and parents with navigating financial aid applications. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and TASFA (Texas Application for State Financial Aid) can be overwhelming for anyone, but with the right tools, you can feel confident in supporting your students and parents through the process. 

From the time our children are small, we teach them what we know. Soon enough, it comes time for them to learn things we don’t know, and that’s when we call in the experts: educators. Time flies, and soon our students are in their *gasp*  last year of high school! This is a crucial time when years of hard academic work and focus come to fruition. It’s also when senioritis might set in! It’s imperative that parents and guardians support their students in staying on course through high school graduation.

For information on college application system updates for the 2021–22 application cycle, please refer to our webinar on Adjusting to College Planning under COVID-19.

This webinar from August 2019 features updates and tips from popular college application systems like ApplyTexas and Common App as well as educator advice on implementing a strong college application completion culture from leader fellow Will Collins at Humble ISD.

“It was the final seconds of the big game…”

“My mom has made me the person I am today…”

“My eyes were opened while on a mission trip…”

I’m sure many of you have read a student’s college admission essay draft and seen a similar approach.

Be prepared for the college application season! In this free webinar from April 2019, we explore college application essays, writing samples, and resumes. The webinar features tips and resources drawn from the Texas OnCourse Academy. We also connect you with representatives from the Common Application and ApplyTexas to keep you in the loop on what's new with these tools.

The scholarship application process can often be just as cumbersome as the application process. During this webinar from January 2019, Texas OnCourse staff highlight helpful advising resources from the scholarship learning module in the Texas OnCourse Academy. These resources, together with information about scholarships at Texas A&M University and through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, will be helpful no matter when you view this webinar.

Have you ever gone frame shopping for a piece of art? Frame choice can enhance or detract from the picture – color, matting, style, and size can affect how the art is perceived.

In our college counseling office, we have prominently displayed a map of the United States that depicts 1,300 different major colleges and universities. We use this map to mark our college acceptances, alumni matriculation, and college graduations to encourage current students to feel more comfortable with the idea of sending their applications to colleges outside of Texas. They stick with what they know because the options are overwhelming, and not just to students. The map is the first thing that people see when they walk in, and it evokes the same response from anyone who enters: “Wow, I didn't realize how many colleges there are! How do students choose which to apply to?”

Many Texas colleges consider the scholarship application offered by ApplyTexas. Though it isn’t required, the scholarship application can and should be completed at the same time as the admission application, saving students time. Filling both out at once also minimizes the risk of forgetting. For more info on everything related to scholarships, check out our Scholarship Basics blog.