Bigfuture...College FAQ's for Students, Parents, and Educators

The word "college" can bring feelings of excitement, worry, and confusion to high school students. The current education mantra is for students be to "College and Career Ready", however, many high schools do not offer courses and/or seminars explaining the process of applying, paying, and making the most of being at a college. Though, college fairs and seminars do happen outside of school day in many districts and schools.

Bigfuture is a website created by the College Board that presents answers to student, parent, and educator questions about college. I am not exaggerating when I say Bigfuture has tons of resources about everything one would need to know about anything related to "college". I particularly enjoy how the website uses a mixture of videos and text to educate people. I also like how many of the resources are explained in Spanish. I teach many students who are English Language Learners--a large majority of them are native Spanish speakers.Even though my students might be able to speak and understand English, many of their parents do not speak English, thus resources in different languages are always beneficial.

I do not have enough space to explain all of the resources available, though I will focus a bit on their Paying for College resources. I often come across many students who struggle with paying for college. Many students have no idea what FAFSA is and why filing for FAFSA is necessary to receive federal and private financial assistance. Bigfuture provides many resources to explain FAFSA, financial aid facts, and scholarship information.

Many wonderful websites exist beyond Bigfuture. I have been promoting Cappex to students for a few years too. Unlike Bigfuture, Cappex is more focused on helping students find a college and scholarship that matches student interests. Additionally, a teacher or guidance counselor can monitor student searches and communications with colleges and scholarship opportunities.

I hope you are able to spread the resources of Bigfuture to your students. As the year winds down and teachers often fight to make lessons that interest students, I recommend spending a day or more teaching students about the college application process.