According to the US Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community 5 year Estimates of Webster County, KY, 46.4% of the population obtained a High School Diploma or equivalent, 18.5% have completed some college, no degree, 9.3% completed an Associate’s degree, 7.2% completed a Bachelor’s degree, and 4.2% have completed a Graduate or professional degree.  One of the most common reasons for not furthering education is due to the expense of college. The FCS Agent was approached by FRYSC at the high school about a program to help educate students about their options for paying for college.

The College and Career Reality Store teaches students ways to pay for college by using scholarships/grants, KEES money, student loans and FAFSA. The ideal outcome of the program is to show students that it is possible to go to college no matter what your background may be.  To begin the program, each students draws a college card which consists of detailed information outlining how much their college's tuition, room and board, books and supplies, transportation and personal cost would be.  Each student is given a statement sheet which outlines their charges, credits and overall total due to their college. They take the financial information provided on their college card and write down those costs listed. Now they are ready to see what financial aid they may receive such as scholarships/grants, KEES, or FAFSA.  After drawing for these items they subtracted how much financial aid they received on their statement and determine the amount they still owed for college.  If they still owed for college they took out a student loan and wrote a check to pay for college.

Many local businesses and community members volunteered to visit classrooms and teach curriculum to make the College and Career Reality Store a success. This program has never been offered in Webster County prior to 2024. This year 9^th and 10^th graders went through the program but in the future community members thought 11^th graders would be the best target age group. 106 students were impacted by the program. Evaluations indicated an improvement in 86% of students’ understanding of KEES money and student loans. 78% indicated they want to go on to further their education knowing about potential scholarships, KEES money, and student loans.

There was an overwhelmingly positive response from the school system and the volunteers, one said “this is a great program! Seeing how many of them didn’t know how student loans might affect them was eye opening. I hope we can keep this program going in the future.”