The disease affects countless people, threatening the very core of hope and dreams for the future. Even parents experience a suffocating shortness of breath as they face the inevitable heartbreak. No, it’s not the SARS virus. It’s a different kind of virus called a Student Aid Report [SAR].

The realities of financing a college education begin to set in as graduation races towards high school seniors. Mutual funds and savings bonds increasingly become ineffective in adequately covering costs.

The orientation session has been reserved, the housing application is in the mail, but college costs often create a seemingly immovable blockade to higher education.

“It really hit me my senior year how necessary it was to get scholarships in order to go to a private college,” Carli Albrechtson, ’03, said. “Because of the economy right now, many areas suffer and one of those is my college savings that are in the stock market.”

For many, the Free Application For Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] application ends in a disappointing entrance into the real world; the promise of government aid often proves an empty one.

“The idea is good but the way the government distributes funds is flawed,” C.J. Haydock, ’03, said. “I wouldn’t be able to afford a state school without the FAFSA but so many people make just enough to qualify and not enough to pay for college.”

A majority of students opt to stay closer to home in order to organize their future plans and save money.

“By staying home for the next two years I can more effectively plan for my future education even after I graduate,” Jamie Meadows, ’03, said. “Why spend more money going somewhere if you aren’t going to stay there?”

Campus administration proves to act as the resource for financial alternatives among students.

“We try to connect students with all possible resources on campus, within the community, and nationwide,” Jon Endicott, campus college counselor, said. “My advice is to continue applying throughout your college years and not to choose a college based on money because it is a lifetime investment.”

Although the advent of graduation has begun, the heightened excitement also produces heightened anxiety in making high school graduate’s dreams come true. Fortunately, the answers to college money woes are out there.

For more information on how to pay for college, you can talk to Endicott in the high school office or go to www.collegefinancingguide.com.