USA Funds Supports College-Planning Efforts for Students in Kansas

USA Funds^® is helping to support Kansas' largest college-planning program for high-school students. The College Planning Conferences are an organized effort of 40 college fairs from Oct. 4-Nov. 10 that take place at various locations throughout Kansas. USA Funds provided bags and a "Borrowing for College" pamphlet for the nearly 22,000 students expected to attend the conferences. This is the second year USA Funds has supported the effort.

The CPCs, which began in 1967, offer an opportunity for admissions counselors from postsecondary institutions in Kansas and throughout the country to gather at different sites, display information about their schools and answer questions from prospective students. Typically, CPCs host 40 to 60 school booths at area high schools. The Wichita Futures Fair, Kansas' largest college fair, is held at the Century II Convention Center, draws about 3,200 students and hosts hundreds of institutions.

Conference locations and times aim to make attendance possible for all Kansas high-school students. Representatives from public institutions, private and community colleges and technical schools throughout Kansas and across the country are welcome to attend.

"The College Planning Conferences offer a convenient location and opportunity for students to find out more about multiple schools they might be interested in attending," said Melinda Roelfs, CPC-committee chair and Pittsburg State University associate director of admission and enrollment services. "We hope students are able to make more-informed decisions and possibly narrow their choices after attending the CPCs."

The Kansas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers sponsors the committee that coordinates the conferences. The committee is comprised of representatives from the Kansas Counseling Association, the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals and KACRAO-member institutions. (Due to its size, the Wichita Futures Fair is organized by a separate committee.)

KACRAO is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional association of more than 400 higher-education administrators who represent nearly 80 institutions and agencies in Kansas.

USA Funds serves as the designated guarantor of federal-education loans in Kansas and seven other states — Arizona, Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada and Wyoming. USA Funds' sponsorship of the Kansas CPCs supports its mission of working to enhance postsecondary-education preparedness, access and success by providing and supporting financial and other valued services.