As Archie Williams students seek out higher education after graduation, they begin applying to college in the fall of their senior year. Over the years, college has become an increasingly expensive pursuit, with average tuition and fees rising by 181.3 percent, adjusted for inflation, since 1989. College can present a considerable cost for students and their families, prompting them to seek financial aid to cover a portion of tuition. One of the most common ways that Archie Williams students look to finance their college education is through academic scholarships. 

Financial aid is an umbrella term that includes various methods of assistance with college tuition, such as scholarships, work-study, loans, and grants. Archie Williams College and Careers Specialist Lisa Neumaier encourages all Archie Williams seniors to either fill out the national financial aid application or formally opt out. 

“The main financial aid application that seniors do opens December 1. It’s a federal application called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. That is the main [financial aid application] that we want seniors to do in order to make themselves eligible for all types of aid, including scholarship, loans, work-study, and all things like that,” Neumaier said. 

Completing the FAFSA application qualifies students for consideration for student aid provided by the federal government. Along with the possibility of federal aid, many states and colleges use the information provided by FAFSA to decide student eligibility for state and specific school aid. The Archie Williams College and Career Center holds workshops to help students with this application so that they can maximize possible financial aid.

“[In the FAFSA application,] there’s a place for [students] to list all of the colleges that they’re applying to… and then the federal government sends that financial aid application to each of the schools. Then the colleges themselves evaluate students, not only for admissions, but if they’re admitted, they’re going to evaluate them and see if they can give them any money to go to college,” Neumaier said. 

In addition to the FAFSA application, most colleges have scholarships that are unique to their institution. These scholarships may consider students automatically when they apply to a school or require a separate application. 

“The other way students can look for scholarships is to go to the actual web pages for the colleges they’re applying to… [There are] some individual scholarships that the university itself gives out where any applicant who meets the criteria can go ahead and apply,” Neumaier said.

Although many scholarships consider one’s financial situation when giving out aid, some are purely merit-based. Merit-based scholarships are blind to financial need, instead purely based on academic achievement demonstrated by both the FAFSA application and individual college aid application. Neumaier recommends that all students fill out the FAFSA application, because any money can help with either paying for a college education or the other expenses that come with it. 

Along with national and school-specific scholarships, students can apply for a variety of local scholarships. Many local organizations annually give scholarships that students can apply for. 

“Our local Rotary gives scholarships, and our local fire station gives scholarships. There are a lot of different organizations locally and nationally that part of their mission is to have a scholarship program for high school seniors to help them pay for college,” Neumaier said.

Another form of local external scholarship is the Archie Williams Scholarship Foundation. Students can begin applying for these scholarships in the spring of their senior year. This Scholarship Foundation provides 21 scholarships for Archie Williams seniors in honor or memory of members of the Archie Williams community. Former Archie Williams counselor Mike Convis founded the foundation in 1965, and these scholarships assist seniors financially, by recognizing their outstanding achievements. 

“[For] the 21 scholarships that are existing, it’s one application. So [Archie Williams] students apply, but what ends up happening is if they get picked, they get matched with one of the 21 scholarships,” Neumaier said. “The majority of those scholarships are named after people who are no longer with us, who were either teachers here, counselors here, former students… or people who have been in the community a long time.” 

Donors to the foundation can choose to honor current or past Archie Williams students, administrators, or faculty members for a scholarship under their name. The more donations the foundation receives, the more the scholarship awards increase in value. The scholarships currently each offer 3,000 dollars for student’s college expenses.

Archie Williams alum Liana Franco was one of the 21 students who received a scholarship from the foundation in the 2023-24 school year. She found that the scholarship helped fund her college education. 

“Receiving the 2024 Barbara McCune scholarship was a proud moment during my senior year, because it recognized my hard work and community involvement in various clubs and organizations during my high school years. This scholarship further assisted me in pursuing my college studies, and I am very grateful that the Archie Williams Scholarship Foundation exists, allowing more universal access to higher education,” Franco said. 

Scholarships can greatly impact seniors struggling to pay for college and their families, as some schools expect students to make the effort of applying for scholarships to help cover the cost of their education.

“The [University of California] system says they have an expectation that students will help pay for their own education… I agree with that,” Neumaier said.

Archie Williams senior Samantha Dvorin is in the process of applying to colleges and scholarships. She finds that taking the initiative to look for and apply for scholarships in order to help pay is an important part of preparing for life after high school. 

“I think it is helpful to help pay for college, because it teaches you how to be responsible and prepares you for the future,” Samantha said. 

Although some scholarships may be readily available to students through their college applications, others may be harder to find. Therefore, if students aim to take advantage of scholarships, taking the initiative to look for them can prove beneficial for families trying to pay for college. 

“There’s a lot of scholarships that maybe people don’t even hear about, or not enough students apply for, and so there’s all this money available… Why not try to go for it and try to get a little bit of money here and there to help [pay for college],” Neumaier said.