State continues to promote free college planning resources

    Learn More Indiana offers tools to help students of all ages plan for the future now

Following a successful statewide launch of College GO! Week on Sept. 24-28, schools and communities are continuing to help students plan for the future with Learn More Indiana’s free college and career planning resources. The annual College GO! Week campaign kicks off a full semester of activities designed to increase college access and success.

“Communities across Indiana are stepping up to help students plan for their futures,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Teresa Lubbers. “Local leaders are using Learn More Indiana’s College GO! Week resources in creative and collaborative ways to promote college and career fairs, planning nights for parents, career-themed activities for elementary school students and many other events.”

Examples of local efforts include a tailgate party with onsite admissions staff for Purdue College of Technology in Richmond, Wabash College students talking to students at Crawfordsville's Lester B. Sommer Elementary School about college planning and college life, and Salem High School gathering seniors to complete online college applications in a computer lab with their guidance counselor on hand to answer questions.

College GO! Week is part of an ongoing public engagement effort designed to help Hoosiers complete education and training beyond high school. Lubbers reminds students that postsecondary education can include one-year workforce certificates, two-year associate degrees and four-year bachelor’s degrees, apprenticeships or military training.

“There are specific steps students can take at any age to make sure they’re ready for college and a career,” said Lubbers. “Learn More Indiana puts all those important steps in one place, so a student can learn how to explore careers in kindergarten, know when to take the SAT or ACT, understand college admissions requirements and more.”

Continuing Events

Learn More Indiana’s College GO! Week website, CollegeGoWeekIndiana.org, offers a variety of helpful resources, including age-specific student checklists, comparisons of college admissions requirements, direct links to online college applications and details on application deadlines and fees waivers among other resources. Additionally, the following events are coming up:

• Graduation Plan Webinar (Oct. 18): Learn More Indiana will host a webinar at 10 a.m. (EST) on Oct. 18 to help students create and update the Indiana high school graduation plan required under state law. Now available in an online format via the Indiana Career Explorer, the plan is an essential tool for ensuring students are on track for graduation and prepared to meet college admissions requirements. See the event calendar at CollegeGoWeekIndiana.org for more details.
• Contest and Grant Deadline (Oct. 24): To encourage more students and schools to get involved in planning for college success, Learn More Indiana is sponsoring contests for students to earn $100 toward a college savings plan and $1,000 competitive grants to support local schools’ college readiness and success efforts. See details at CollegeGoWeekIndiana.org.
• Ongoing Events (all fall semester): College fairs, visit days and forums open to the public are occurring all fall semester at many locations across the state. Upcoming college fairs include the Jackson & Jennings County, Grant County, Northeast Indiana and Shelby County College Fairs. For more information, visit CollegeGoWeekIndiana.org.