How We Create Opportunities for Students of All Ages
VSAC’s financial aid, loan services, and outreach programs are helping Vermonters to build something better
Our vision is to create opportunities for students, but particularly for those—of any age—who believe that the doors to higher education are closed to them.
VSAC’s VT529 COLLEGE SAVINGS PLAN
More than $764 million is invested in 30,722 Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan (VT529) accounts as of June 2025.
VSAC NEED-BASED EDUCATION GRANTS
In 2024–2025, VSAC awarded 11,118 need-based education grants (totaling $25.3 million) to Vermont students.
VSAC SCHOLARSHIPS
VSAC administered more than 150 scholarships and forgivable loans funded by public or private sources—funding 5,005 awards worth more than $21.6 million during the 2024–2025 academic year.
VSAC LOAN SERVICES
VSAC’s FY25 financing:
- VSAC issued $48 million in its student and parent loans and serviced $382.7 million in loans.
- Borrower benefit programs have saved borrowers more than $184 million since 1995.
- Offered education loans for Vermont students and parents.
- Provided loan coaching: free, in-depth personalized education debt counseling as borrowers begin repayment.
- Offered eligible borrowers the opportunity to refinance their loans to reduce their monthly payments or pay off loans faster—with no origination fees and a fixed interest rate.
VSAC COMMUNITY OUTREACH
In FY25, VSAC:
- Counseled 5,708 modest-income and/or first-generation, college-bound Vermont students of all ages through VSAC Aspirations, special projects with the McClure Foundation and three federal grants: Talent Search, GEAR UP and Educational Opportunity Center.
- 75% of Talent Search and 48% of GEAR UP participants who graduated from high school in 2024 continued their education in the fall.
- More than 1,580 Vermont adults enrolled in the EOC program; of the participants with a completed high school credential (including those who completed a high school credential during the grant year), 79% enrolled in postsecondary education.
- Middle school and high school students from all over Vermont were served by GEAR UP partnerships, including Vermont Careers CLiC, Governor’s Institutes of Vermont, Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative, University of Vermont, Vermont State University, and Community College of Vermont’s Introduction to College & Careers.
- 585 GEAR UP high school grads received access to individualized services to help with their transition to in- and out-of-state education programs through VSAC’s innovative GEAR UP After High School (formerly GUIDE) program.
- Additionally, 499 GEAR UP postsecondary students were awarded GEAR UP’s renewable scholarship.
- 30,000 Vermonters and other borrowers were assisted by VSAC financial counselors in FY25.
- Some 492 parents and students attended free “Paying for College” and "Financial Aid Forms" events, and 1,557 students and parents attended our "College & Career Pathways" event at five locations sitewide, while an additional 273 students and families viewed these events online via livestream or recording. Recordings and webinars have received over 23,000 video views on YouTube.
- Hundreds of Vermont schools, libraries, and agencies distributed financial aid materials, adult student handbooks, and scholarship booklets, and VSAC guides were downloaded 804 times from VSAC’s digital publications hub.
- VSAC staff provided training to 491 education professionals on the topics of career exploration, college planning, and applying for financial aid.
Learn more about how VSAC influences higher education policy in Vermont >