Calendar Helps Students and Parents Plan for College

Students and parents may not be aware of the steps that they need to take when applying for college and financial aid, and others might have a difficult time managing these tasks. The Maryland Higher Education Commission has developed a 16-month calendar with detailed monthly checklists to help make college planning more manageable.

USA Funds^® awarded a grant of $25,000 to assist MHEC in developing the calendar, titled Step Up for College. “Planning for college can be an overwhelming experience,” said Andrea Mansfield, director, MHEC Office of Student Financial Assistance. “Students and their parents need to think about college-admission tests, college applications and financial aid, all of which have strict deadlines. It can be a lot to manage. The planning calendar offers a detailed month-to-month approach to preparing for a postsecondary education.” 

“One of USA Funds’ primary goals is to increase access to postsecondary education,” said Pat Roe, USA Funds manager, philanthropy. “The planning calendar is an excellent tool to help students and their parents plan for college, meet deadlines, and ensure they are taking the right steps in preparing for a postsecondary education.”

MHEC is distributing the calendar to all high-school juniors within each of Maryland’s 24 jurisdictions. The calendar includes checklists of specific activities to complete each month during the last two years of high school to be prepared to enter college.

Step Up for College also is a helpful tool for high-school guidance counselors, college admissions offices and financial-aid administrators to use in advising high-school students. Additionally, the calendar will be distributed to public libraries, colleges and universities and early intervention sites.

“One of the commission’s primary responsibilities is to educate and disseminate information on state financial-assistance programs and college preparation,” said Mansfield. “The calendar will assist us in making students, and those who assist students plan their education, aware of this aid and enable them to access it by taking the appropriate steps to get into college.”