Getting Started: Families begin their college planning journey with the “Complete Guide to College Funding” workshop; a two-session program for parents of high school students that provides a comprehensive overview of how to better prepare for college. This introductory component of the AMEDF Scholars Methodology provides a detailed overview of the particulars of preparing for college success and highlights major pitfalls to avoid that could greatly increase the odds of college failure. Topics covered in this component include college admissions, admissions tests (PSAT, SAT, ACT and others); career profiling, college majors; need and non-need based aid including grants, scholarships and self-help; tax benefits for higher education, unique college financing programs from federal and state sources; year-by-year planning steps and other important topics. The second component of this workshop is a one-on-one advisory session to determine aid eligibility and assessment of the student’s college readiness. For upcoming dates of the “Complete Guide to College Funding” workshop, please select the chapter nearest you.
Additional Workshops: Next up in the AMEDF Scholars Methodology are a series of workshops on the specifics of career selection, college choices, college aid and college financial planning taught by seasoned instructors and professional advisers. In select chapter areas, additional workshops are fully subsidized and free of charge to the public. Please select the chapter nearest you for available workshop dates.
Individual Advisory: Individual advisory sessions with professional advisers are available to assist with career profiling, career research, academic advising, college search, financial aid advising and financial preparation for college. Advisory fees are subsidized by AMEDF from 70% (for all families) to 100% (for families qualified for the school free lunch program). Advisors are professionals certified by AMEDF for college advisement and contracted to provide face to face guidance in select AMEDF chapter locations. Advisory is available as individual sessions or a package of 8 sessions (up to 4 hours of total advisory time). Participants’ co-pay for advisory fees is based on their subsidy level (i.e. At the 70% subsidy level, participants’ co-pay is $300 for the 8-session advisory package or $60 for an individual advisory session). In chapters where additional workshops are not fully subsidized, participants in the advisory package attend additional workshops free of charge.
Financial Preparation: This component combines portions of the self-study curriculum, additional workshops and individual advisory to help parents organize a financial plan for college. Incorporating financial aid and a detailed analysis of the family’s budget, a financial plan is developed to make college affordable without sacrificing other equally important needs. Financial advising is provided by licensed financial advisers contracted by AMEDF for individual advisement .
Self-Study Curriculum: This component combines College Board’s topical lesson plans with individual advisory in order to guide students toward suitable careers, explore college majors, select and compare colleges, and better work with their school counselors. The topical lesson plans are:
- Colleges: Introduce younger students to the world of post-secondary education and help more senior students choose and apply to colleges
- MyPlan: Help students gain perspective on themselves, their planning journey and to organize a diary of their college preparation to better work with their school counselors and prospective colleges
- Careers: Assist students in establishing career goals and making the most of available career research resources
- ID Me: Introduce students to the concept of personality typing and teach them to use their profile as a guide to making academic and career choices
- Majors: Help students explore various areas of study, draw connections between their current course work and college-level academic disciplines, identify prerequisites, and connect majors to future career goals and current activities
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