College and Career Information
Saucon Valley High School, October 4, 2021
Financial Aid Night
The Counseling Department will be hosting a Financial Aid Night on October 21st at 6 pm in the LGI. A representative from Lehigh University will be presenting on the financial aid application process and the different types of aid available to students. In addition, Rosa Ferguson, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Northampton Community College and Staff Sergeant Anthony Romero from the Army National Guard will be available to answer questions as well.
Ms. Fisher: Career and Collegiate Counselor
College Representative Visits:
The counseling office is thrilled to welcome college representatives back to SVHS for in person visits! College rep visits are a great way to learn more about a college and also an excellent opportunity for students to meet a member of admissions staff at colleges they are applying to. Be on the lookout for weekly emails from Ms. Fisher announcing the following week visits and sign up through Naviance.
Seniors Applying to College:
Ms. Fisher, our Career and Collegiate Counselor, is available as a resource to all students to help with the college search and application process. If you have questions about your college list, applications, Naviance, or are simply feeling overwhelmed or confused about the process feel free to contact her and set up a meeting!
Understanding Financial Aid and the FASFA
As you prepare for college or career school, explore how financial aid works, learn about the types of aid, and find out if you’re eligible. You can also estimate what aid you may be eligible for when you check out the Federal Student Aid Estimator.
https://studentaid.gov/h/understand-aid
01 Start Planning Early
Plan how to pay for college before you start. Ask school counselors and the college financial aid office about state, college, and nonprofit grants and scholarships you can apply for. Be sure to meet application deadlines. Start saving before you get to college. Consider prepaid tuition and education savings (529) plans.
02 Fill Out the FAFSA® Form
Before each year of college, apply for federal grants, work-study, and loans with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. Your college uses your FAFSA data to determine your federal aid eligibility. Many states and colleges use FAFSA data to award their own aid. After submission, you’ll receive your Student Aid Report.
Reviewing Your Student Aid Report
03 Review Your Aid Offer
Your aid offer explains the types and amounts of aid a college is offering you, and your expected costs for the year. If you’ve been accepted to multiple colleges, compare the costs and aid offers. Accept the aid from the school that's best for you and inform them of other sources of aid (such as scholarships) you expect to receive.
04 Get Your Aid
Time to go to school! Your financial aid office will apply your aid to the amount you owe your school and send you the remaining balance to spend on other college costs. One of the requirements to maintain financial aid eligibility is that you must make satisfactory academic progress. And don’t forget to complete a FAFSA® form each year!
05 Graduate and Start Repayment
As you prepare to graduate, get ready to repay your student loans. Good news! Federal student loan borrowers have a six-month grace period before you begin making payments. Use this time to get organized and choose a repayment plan. If you start falling behind on your payments, contact your loan servicer to discuss repayment options.
College Board Big Future- Planning for Your Future
College Board also offers Opportunity Scholarships based on completing the steps to prepare for college! Click here to find out more! The picture below is from the website, please visit to find out more about the scholarships that are available!
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) is now open for seniors!
Wyatt, FAFSA Assistance Chatbot
College Board has partnered with Benefits Data Trust—a national nonprofit—to connect Opportunity Scholarship participants with Wyatt℠, a free FAFSA-assistance chatbot that answers questions via text message. Your students can receive around-the-clock help from Wyatt. All seniors can now sign up for Wyatt using the link at the top of the Opportunity Scholarships homepage.
Watch the video to get help completing the FAFSA. Watch Now
Scholarships for FAFSA Completion
By confirming completion of the FAFSA, your students can qualify for drawings for $500 College Board Opportunity Scholarships. Here's how students qualify:
1. They sign up for College Board Opportunity Scholarships if they haven't yet joined.
2. They fill out the FAFSA.
3. Once the FAFSA is submitted, they visit the My Action Plan page and confirm their submission.
4. If they're legally ineligible to complete the FAFSA, they can still qualify for this scholarship on their My Action Plan page.
Winners are selected monthly and are notified via the email in their College Board accounts. For questions about Opportunity Scholarships, email opportunityscholarships@collegeboard.org or call 844-298-3554.
National Honor Society Scholarship
Since 1946, more than $19 million in scholarships has been awarded to outstanding NHS senior members. The scholarship program is supported by the parent organization of NHS, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
The 2021–22 NHS Scholarship application process is now open. Eligible senior NHS members must have a verified NHS student account in order to submit an application. Learn more about student accounts, review our FAQs and review the Application Guides below to familiarize yourself with the application process.
Timeline:
- NHS Scholarship application process opens: Friday, October 1, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. (ET).
- NHS Scholarship deadline: Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (ET)
- Award selection notification: April 2022 (non-recipients will be notified after the acceptance deadline).
- Scholarship acceptance deadline: June 1, 2022
- Scholarship disbursement: Early August 2022.
Award Distribution:
1 National Winner – $25,000 scholarship
24 national finalists – $5,625 scholarship
575 national semifinalists – $3,200 scholarship
Total scholarships awarded: 600
Total 2021 scholarship distribution: $2 million
Application Guides:
NHS Scholarship Application Overview
NHS Scholarship Student Application Guide
Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP)
The Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program (SEAP) provides an opportunity for high school students to participate in research at a Department of Navy (DoN) laboratory during the summer.
The goals of SEAP are to encourage participating high school students to pursue science and engineering careers, to further their education via mentoring by laboratory personnel and their participation in research, and to make them aware of DoN research and technology efforts, which can lead to employment within the DoN.
SEAP is providing competitive research internships to 300 high school students this year. Participating students spend eight weeks during the summer doing research at 37 DoN laboratories.
These are paid 8 week, 40 hours a week, summer internship opportunities at government research labs all across the U.S. Students must be U.S. citizens to apply.
Here is the link for high school students: https://navalsteminterns.us/seap/
Applications close on Nov 1, 2021 for summer 2022.
Slippery Rock University- Department of Homeland/Corporate Security Studies
By way of introduction, I am Dr. Susan Lubinski, chair of Slippery Rock University’s Department of Homeland/Corporate Security Studies. I wanted to inform you about two new degrees we are offering and related minors and certificates. The field of security is a $400 billion/year industry and provides many career options at all levels of government (locally to globally) as well as within the private sector. These new academic disciplines are as follows:
- The department offers a Bachelor of Science in Homeland Security. This degree provides the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the intelligence field, emergency management field, and protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure and key assets. Graduates seeking a degree in this area typically seek employment with the Department of Homeland Security, CIA, FBI, NSA, BATF, as well as other federal agencies, and private governmental contractors. This degree is beneficial to those intending to work on the intelligence side of law enforcement. Our new Emergency Management Minor and Emergency Management Certificate prepares graduates to lead communities as they plan for, mitigate and recover from problems pertaining to manmade and natural disasters.
- The department offers a Bachelor of Science in Corporate Security with two concentrations. The first concentration, Organizational Security enables students to learn about protecting infrastructure, people, assets, and information in the private sector. These professionals provide security for sporting venues, commercial office buildings, hospitals, schools/colleges/universities, the retail industry, and financial sectors among many more. There are also professional certifications one can obtain from the American Society for International Security (ASIS), which is the premier certifying body worldwide for private security professionals.
- The department offers another concentration in Fraud. People versed in fraud direct organizations in preventing, detecting, investigating and mitigating people/organizations who embezzle, commit corruption, identity theft, corporate espionage, and asset misappropriation. Both the federal government and state governments hire fraud examiners to track money laundering, terrorist financing and illicit monies derived from transnational criminal organizations. Private organizations also employ fraud examiners in banking, insurance, healthcare, and casinos, among more. One can obtain the professional certification of Certified Fraud Examiner from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, which is the premier certifying body worldwide for fraud examiners.
Our department prioritizes hands-on learning so that our graduates have the technical knowledge which will allow them to be successful in whichever path they choose. We like to think of ourselves as “academics plus” because we provide spring break trips and Saturday certificate programs where students have the opportunity to earn professional certifications.
If you have further questions, Please contact by email susan.lubinski@sru.edu.
Saucon Valley High School
Email: tamara.gary@svpanthers.org
Website: www.svpanthers.org
Location: 2100 Polk Valley Road, Hellertown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-838-7001
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Saucon-Valley-HS-1978556779100020
Twitter: @SauconValleyHS