The updated FAFSA was delayed this fall, and the impact of that three-month delay rolled down the line to colleges, families, and students. College financial aid offices are now scrambling to process student financial data and to get their aid decisions out to families as quickly as possible…
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Blog Archive: Searching for a College
As a competitive runner, Amiya Sharp knows how to push herself to the finish line. Now a freshman pre-med student at UMass Boston, she’s majoring in biochemistry—a tough major, but one Amiya intentionally chose to make sure shes's prepared for medical school. Amiya hopes to become a pediatric…
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VSAC Counselor Tia Stillman and Orwell student Olivia Scher bonded over their goals and drive to help people – as well as being people of color in a small Vermont town. As a kid, Olivia Scher was one of very few people of color in tiny Orwell, Vermont. One other person was her elementary school…
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Middle school students engaged with hands-on exhibits at STEM fairs in Castleton and the Northeast Kingdom. At two bustling events earlier this month at both ends of Vermont, hundreds of 7th and 8th graders came together for hands-on career exploration. Kingdom Career Connect and the Northeast…
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When Mimi Duong was applying to college during her senior year at St. Johnsbury Academy, she found herself at a bit of a disadvantage, since her parents, who had emigrated to Vermont from Vietnam, weren’t totally familiar with the American college admissions system. When we last spoke with her in…
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When David Richardson was seven years old, his world turned upside down. His relatively comfortable middle-class household, supported by two parents who both held good jobs – his mom as a substance use counselor, his dad as a corrections officer – changed, literally, with one wrong step. His father…
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When Brody Moran works with kids – either as a substitute teacher at Cabot School in his hometown during his college breaks, or this summer as a counselor at Turtle Island camp – he never asks a child what they want to be when they grow up. “Some people love asking that question, because it provokes…
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Blue Mountain Union High School seniors (left to right) Sera Brooks, Jada Longmoore, Avery Nelson, Gabby Houghton and Lauren Joy. “If it wasn’t for Kassidy, I would be going to a school I didn’t love, because I didn’t realize how little UVM was going to cost me.” “If Kassidy hadn’t convinced me to…
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When David Tabaruka started as the Financial Controller for the Community College of Vermont last March, the new job felt like a homecoming and a triumph. “I said, hey, I’ve been here before – but this time, I’m part of the staff rather than a student,” he says with a broad smile. “It feels really…
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In the fall of 2020, Michelle Legere walked into the sophomore-class advisory group at Richford Junior-Senior High School to introduce herself as a brand-new VSAC Outreach Counselor. Even on her very first day at work, she knew that Xavier Wood was a standout. “The students took turns introducing…
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