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The Journey of Finding Scholarships

Eric Mullens

Counseling Department Chair

Chaparral High School

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2026 Sierra Heavy Duty GMC AT4X

  • COST (base Package) $86,295
  • Taxes & Fees $ 9,366
  • Total Cost $95,664

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  • Depreciation value

after 5 years $38,404

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  • Money lost/gained

After 5 years -$57,260

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University of Colorado �Colorado Springs

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University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

  • 4-year degree cost $107,944

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  • Degree appreciation value after 5 years $190,333

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  • Money lost/gained after 5 years from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
    • High school graduates earn an average of $809 per week
    • Associate degree graduates earn an average of $963 per week
    • Bachelor’s degree graduates earn an average of $1,334 per week
    • Master’s degree graduates earn an average of $1,574 per week

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A student’s selection of one of three options below, will probably determine how much money they will save on college costs:

1) I want to attend a specific college, and with a specific major ($$$)

2) I have a general idea what I want to major in, and I’m willing to go to college anywhere ($$)

3) I want a college degree at the lowest cost possible ($)

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Scholarships – Institutional, National, State/Local

Grants – Federal, State (College Opportunity Fund – COF)

Loans – Federal, State, Private, Individual

Work Study - Institutional

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In – State Tuition

Private Tuition

Out of State Tuition (approximately 2x in-state)

Western Undergraduate Exchange Tuition (WUE) (approximately 1.5X in state)

WUE tuition only applies to certain majors

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Merit Based Scholarships

  • Skill, talent, GPA/Test Scores
  • Many academic scholarships do not cover room and board
  • Many athletic scholarships are divided between students
  • Students that receive athletic scholarships must still meet all application/financial aid deadlines
  • Athletic scholarships are reviewed/renewed annually (there is no such thing as a four-year guaranteed athletic scholarship)

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Need Based Scholarships/Grants

  • FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) - Federal/Institutional aid (should be updated annually)

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  • CSS Profile (College Scholarship Service) – Institutional aid (should be updated annually)

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9th and 10th Grade Scholarship�Preparation

What colleges are you considering?

What do you want to major in?

Are you willing to go to college out-of-state?

Are you giving your best effort to have a good GPA in challenging courses?

Do you know your GPA and class rank?

Should you take the ACT/SAT to get a baseline score?

Start making a list of colleges you are considering. You can store this information in Naviance.

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11th and 12th Grade Scholarship Journey

Make a spreadsheet of your possible colleges:

    • College Name
    • Location
    • Tuition
    • Room and Board
    • Application deadlines
    • Financial Aid deadlines
    • Are there institutional scholarships that have a separate application/dates?
    • Financial offers/scholarships
    • Application submitted
    • Application result

Do I need to do some ACT/SAT test prep?

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Ways to cut college costs (other than scholarships/grants)

  • Take and pass Advanced Placement Courses
  • Take and pass Concurrent Enrollment Courses
  • Look into CLEP course offerings through the College Board
  • Consider attending a Community/Junior College for one or two years
  • Consider attending an in-state college (top state schools will be the most expensive of the public state colleges) Example: CU Boulder is more expensive than Mesa
  • Consider online colleges
  • Live at home as long as possible
  • When you do live on or off campus try to have numerous roommates to limit housing costs

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  • Work in College and in the summer

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  • Consider taking summer college classes to make sure you graduate in 4 years

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  • Consider being an RA (Resident Assistant)

Ways to cut college costs continued

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Specific examples of merit, institutional specific, scholarships and sample Cost Of Attendance (COA)

University of Alabama out-of-state Freshman Scholarship ($6000-$28,000)

(out-of-state annual tuition $31,000)

(room/board/fees annually $15,000)

Total COA - $40,000 - $18,000

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CU-Boulder – Impact Scholarship ($4,000)

(in-state annual tuition $13,000)

(room/board/fees annually $19,000)

Total COA - $28,000

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University of New Mexico – Colorado Reciprocal Scholarship ($23,000)

(out-of-state annual tuition $25,000)

(room/board/fees annually $12,000)

Total COA - $14,000

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Texas Tech University Freshman Merit Scholarship Program ($1000-$9000)

(out-of-state annual tuition $24,450)

(room/board/fees annually $15,000)

Total COA - $38,450 - $30,450

(Texas Tech also allows students to attend for in-state tuition if they receive a merit based academic scholarship through the school. Using this equation a student’s COA could be $25,852 - $17,852)

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Vassar College (annual tuition for all students $73,275)

Stanford University (annual tuition for all students $67,731)

Grand Canyon University (annual tuition for all students $17,850)

Metropolitan State University (annual in-state tuition $9,403)

Arapahoe Community College (annual tuition for all students taking up to 30 college hours $4,626)

Sample College Cost Ranges

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How do I get more College merit scholarship offers?

Simple! Apply to a lot of schools

How do I get more college athletic scholarship offers?

Work with your club and high school coaches to get your athletic resume (statistics, honors, highlight videos, etc…) to as many college coaches of all levels as possible: NAIA, Division II, Division I

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Resources:

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Q & A

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Personal stories and experiences of working with other CHS students with the “Scholarship Journey”