For most of this year’s high school graduates, the college decision isn’t a matter of if, but where and how. Students understand that education beyond high school is their ticket to rewarding jobs and competitive pay.

But what happens in high school goes a long way toward determining a young person’s college options and choices. Today we catch up with five students who earlier this year shared their aspirations and challenges. Students need rigorous curriculums to prepare them for college work. And they need help with the bewildering processes of college selection, application and financing.

Some high schools perform those roles better than others. And often the expertise coincides with the family incomes of the students.

A series of editorials and opinion pieces earlier this year in The Star found that numerous opportunities await first-generation and low-income students, especially at state universities and community colleges. Financial aid and scholarships are available as well, if they know where to look.

But many schools need to do a better job providing counseling and support to students whose families have limited knowledge about the college application process. Those students are less likely than their more affluent peers to have ready access to counselors who are knowledgeable about college admissions.

Their schools are also less likely to offer advanced placement or dual college credit courses.

The stories of five high school students profiled on The Star’s Opinion page earlier this year illustrate some of the challenges of preparing college-bound students.
In January, they were filling out applications. The months since have seen dreams fulfilled and dreams recast.

Afton Anderson, a top student at Lee’s Summit High School, worked with her guidance counselor to achieve her aims for college: A high-quality accounting major and generous financial aid.

Hard work at her academically strong high school is paying off for Afton. Claflin University in South Carolina has offered her a full ride and she’s hoping the University of Arkansas will make a similar bid.

Chris Bernard, the senior class president at Kansas City’s Northeast High School, talked his way into opportunity.
He’s getting full tuition from Johnson County Community College to participate on the debate team.

Chris’ plan had been to study engineering. But those aspirations were hampered by his high school’s limited menu of advanced science and math courses and lack of consistent guidance.

Fortunately, he’s been a standout in events with Debate-Kansas City. Chris won the scholastic league’s highest honor, the Melvin B. Tolson Award, this spring.

Charles Humphrey will be first in his family to graduate from high school.
The senior from Harmon High School in Kansas City, Kan., was accepted at Kansas State University and offered some financial aid.

But Charles has no financial cushion, so he’s applying for a scholarship that would pay his tuition and expenses at Donnelly College, a two-year college in Kansas City, Kan. He wants to study psychology.

Nathan Peterson’s college search has led him to his dream school, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Propelled by supportive parents and helpful teachers and counselors at Raytown High School, Nathan received an early acceptance to MIT to study architecture.

Financing was a concern, but the school in Cambridge, Mass., is providing close to $40,000 a year in financial aid. Nathan has secured scholarships to cover almost all the rest of the $51,000-a-year cost.

Tara Westlund, a top student at Blue Valley Northwest High School, used her initiative and the school’s excellent guidance resources to win acceptances from seven of the nine selective schools to which she applied.

She embarked on a whirlwind of campus visits and settled on Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where she’ll study engineering. Fortunately, her family is able to help her with expenses, and she’s applying for scholarships.