According to the Union County Kentucky Education Profile from CEDIK, only 68.4% of youth in Union County are enrolling in college following graduation.  Many youth are ending their educational journey the day they graduate high school and the most common reason (after asking many students) is the expense of college. Therefore, the school system wanted a program to teach students how much college cost and the ways they can pay for a higher education.  After analyzing, the Union County 4-H Program and the Union County School System put their heads together to create the “College Reality Store”.

The “College Reality Store” was set up to teach students how they could pay for college using scholarships/grants, KEES money, student loans, and FAFSA.  The goal was to show youth that no matter what kind of background you come from, paying for college is possible. When students entered the “College Reality Store” they drew a college card which gave a detailed outline of how much their college’s tuition, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal costs would be.  Then the youth would write those cost down on their statement, which outlined their charges, credits, and overall total due to their college.  Then moving on, the youth would go around to booths and draw to see how much financial aid they would receive.  Once visiting all the booths, the youth would subtract how much financial aid they received on their statement to see how much they still owed.  If they still owed money (which the majority of youth did), then they would visit a booth where they would learn how to take out a student loan and write a check - essentially paying for college!

There are numerous local companies that volunteer to work booths to make the “College Reality Store” a success.  The “College Reality Store” has been offered at Union County High School for 3 years now with over 600 students attending. After going through the “College Reality Store”, 75% of the youth stated that they were going to try harder in school, save more money, and make wiser financial decisions. More importantly, 75% of the youth also stated that they would start their college search earlier and they planned to achieve more education after high school.