Montana University System
College Access
News & Updates
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Montana's portal for college and career planning
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ReacherHigherMontana.org is a joint project of the Montana University System and Reach Higher Montana to promote college access for all Montanans. Please help spread the word by sharing the link –
ReachHigherMontana.org
– with your students and their families.
The portal is an online gateway to the Montana University System. From career planning to financial aid, the site has everything students and their parents need to chart their course for life after high school.
Calendars, planning guides and other tools help students and their families plan smart and stay organized. Students can calculate how much they’ll need to earn to live the lifestyle they want. Parents can calculate tuition and fees and find strategies to minimize debt. Families can explore their student’s post-high school options, including two-year programs, apprenticeships, certificate programs and military service.
New this fall:
Coming soon at
www.reachhigermontana.org: The Montana University System central application "Apply Montana" will go live on September 1. The first application is free. Mark your Calendar!
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Earn college credit in high school. FREE!
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One-Two-Free Dual Enrollment
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Earn college credit in high school. FREE! Take free college courses while still in high school through the One-Two-Free program and other dual enrollment programs at Montana University System two-year colleges as well as community and tribal colleges.
Get started today!
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Meet our College Access Champions
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K-12 College Access Champion
Betsy Wade, Polson High School Counselor
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Betsy Wade is finishing up her fifth year as a School Counselor at Polson High School. She grew up in Vermont and received her BA in Psychology from Dartmouth College in 2010. After two years of working in Group Sales for the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation in Medora, North Dakota, she moved to Colorado. There she earned her Master’s of Education in Counseling and Career Development from Colorado State University in 2014. She is a member of the Leadership Flathead Reservation class of 2019, and she plans to continue her education in the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of Montana starting this summer. She coaches 8th grade basketball, has volunteered with the high school track program, and is a member of the Mission Valley Choral Society. She resides in Polson with her husband, Chad, and one-year-old daughter, Sylvie.
Why is education important to you and your community?
I love to learn and I enjoy working in a school setting. I cannot think of a more rewarding pursuit than partnering with students to help them develop their strengths and spark their curiosity. I come from a family of educators and I feel strongest when I am listening to and learning from others. I enjoy instilling in my students a passion for education and career possibilities. The more our young people learn about the past, think critically about the challenges we currently face, and get excited about the future, the stronger our community will be
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How do you ensure success in your school?
At Polson High School, we hold our students to high standards and we are here to support them in any way possible when they face challenges. Our teachers and support staff are dedicated, intelligent, passionate, and caring. Our partnerships are also instrumental in helping our students succeed - partnerships with families, community organizations, businesses, TRIO programs, Reach Higher MT, CSKT Tribal Education, and with many other educational institutions. Celebrating the success of our students seems to breed more success. Events like our annual Career Connection and Senior Signing Day, Respect Rally, awards assemblies, Link Leadership activities, Personal Best Breakfast, homecoming festivities, Intramural Basketball program, club gatherings, theater productions, music performances and festivals, and sporting events help to create a sense of belonging and pride among our student body. We are always looking for new ways to inspire self-directed learners, and to help students experience success in high school and beyond.
Why should high school students consider attending college?
I believe it is important for students to have a post-secondary plan - whether that’s a 4-year-college, a 2-year-college, certificate program, apprenticeship, military, workforce etc. I am a strong proponent of lifelong learning - whatever that may look like for each individual. Attending college can be an incredible opportunity to grow personally and professionally, and to expand career possibilities. To get the most out of college, I believe students need to engage in the experience - forming relationships with fellow students and professors, studying abroad, completing internships, getting involved in research projects, playing sports, joining clubs etc. College is a time for self-discovery and for channeling natural talents.
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Post-Secondary College Access Champion Gaylene DuCharme, Blackfeet Community College Financial Aid Director
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I have worked at BCC for the last 22 years, and 14 years in financial aid. I have a bachelor's in business, an associate's in computer science and in network support. I love working with the community, helping them start their academic journey at BCC. I work with an amazing team of women; Amelia Marceau, my Financial Aid Specialist and Fern Shootsfirst, the Student Accounts Specialist. We love working together and we get along, which is a great asset to the students and the community. I enjoy working with the faculty. Each semester at the beginning of the term for two weeks, I go into the classroom and present the financial aid office to the students. This has proven a great tool to get to the students at the beginning, letting them know how financial aid works and that they can ask their questions. This working relationship with the faculty is an such a wonderful way to reach all of our students and the faculty understand their roles in the financial aid process. Any student who applies for the FAFSA, no matter what school they are thinking of attending, can stop in our offices and we will be more than happy to help them fill it out. We attend local college fairs so we can be there for the students, the staff, the faculty and our community. We look forward to working with you! So, please do stop in and visit with us about scholarships, we’d love to help you look!
Why is education important to you and your community?
Education is important to me because it gives you knowledge of the world around us from different perspectives. Education can give you a better understanding of how change in ourselves can make our community better.
How do you ensure success on your campus?
Ensuring success on campus is to know the students, learn who they are and why they are here on campus. By being involved with the student you are able to retain them. Retention is a good indicator of success; being interactive and finding those leading indicators to maintain full time enrollment is success. And by meeting the students needs as much as we can will ensure success on campus and after graduation.
Why should high school students consider college?
Today’s world is changing. Gone are the days of just having a high school diploma; it is not enough to get you a decent job. The idea of going to college is scary and intimidating to anyone who is entering college for the very first time. It can be the first hurdle that most will not clear because they are frightened of the unknown or afraid of the cost. But working with what you have at home, like Blackfeet Community College, you are in a good place to ask questions, take a tour, try a class and that helps ease the worries.
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2019 College Application Week School of Excellence
Hardin School District
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Our National partner, the
American College Application Campaign, has intiated a new honor for those schools participating in our annual College Application Week event:
The School of Excellence Award. This award is made to a school who participates in the MUS College Access events and demonstrates exemplary commitment to making higher education accessible for all their students.
Congratulations to our 2019 College Application Week School of Excellence -
Hardin High School! Hardin's dedication to supporting college access for all students is clearly seen by their 100% participation rate in the 2019 College Application Week event. Every single senior submitted at least one application with the support of the amazing teachers, counselors, and administrators at Hardin High School. Thank you for supporting college access for all Montana's students, Hardin!
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Financial Aid special considerations
If you or your family has been impacted by Covid-19, we recommend that you contact the financial aid office at the college you are attending and ask about the special consideration form. Click on the school to send an email to the financial aid department.
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COVID-19 Impacts on Financial Aid
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Federal Resources
*Federal Student Aid COVID-19
FAQS
Reach Higher Montana Resources
*Financial Aid During COVID-19
Video
*Financial Aid
Tips for Parents and Recent Graduates
Video
Montana University System Resources
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The Montana University System College Access team along with the Montana Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators are working to support Montana high school counselors and students in completing the FAFSA and improving financial literacy. Please fill out the survey below and help us better serve Montana students.
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MT GEAR UP TRIO Achievement Grant Awardees
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The Montana TRIO Grant is a one-time award of $1,500. Students must be active in a Montana Upward Bound or Talent Search program before and during their senior year of high school to be eligible to apply for the grant. This year 125 students from across Montana were awarded the GEAR UP TRIO Achievement Grant.
This grant is disbursed directly to the student’s institution of higher education. The grant may be used to cover the student’s cost of attendance at any U.S. accredited college or university that awards an associate’s degree or higher.
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Supporting Students During COVID 19 - Interview
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Interview with Emily Sallee - UM Counseling Department
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In this time of COVID 19 uncertainty, what is the best advice you can offer college access professionals about supporting students?
Any uncertainty and unpredictability can trigger typical trauma-responses of Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fright, Fawn. The COVID-19 pandemic complicates this conversation, because it’s in and of itself a source of trauma for all of us right now, whether that looks like loss of work/financial security, missing friends/family, fear of the illness for ourselves or others, etc. There is a wide continuum of what this might look like for each of us, but for college access professionals trying to support students right now, this is three-fold. One, the college access professionals themselves are impacted by this trauma. Two, the students they are supporting are impacted by this trauma. And three, the way in which college access professionals support students could potentially be triggering and/or re-traumatizing.
The basis of being trauma-informed is putting the relationship first. This is the number one piece of advice I can offer college access professionals now more than ever. This is not a time to push on as originally planned, because nothing about the original plan is the same. Putting relationships first looks like checking in on those basic human needs of food, shelter, safety, etc. Let’s take an example of a college-bound senior whose family has been impacted by the pandemic in a way where the primary provider has lost employment, resulting in lack of financial security, resulting in heightened stress for the family, all while the student is navigating how to finish their senior year through remote learning. Nothing is as it was. Instead of beginning the college conversation where it left off pre-COVID, college access professionals must re-establish the baseline of student and family needs. Part of this also looks like offering grace and allowance to make changes to the original plan. Perhaps instead of moving out-of-state in August to attend a four-year university, there are other options, such as attending a community college or online program to knock out some pre-recs next year, with or without holding down a job to help re-establish a sense of financial security for the family. At the same time, this grace and these allowances shouldn’t be approached as “less than” or a “back-up plan,” which can lead to feelings of insecurity and inferiority that again, could be triggering or re-traumatizing for the student and family.
T
o read the rest of the interview on the MT Educational Talent Search website, click
here
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College Application Week Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 2020
FAFSA Kickoff Oct. 5-9, 2020
1st Gen. College Student Day Nov. 9, 2020
MUS Priority FAFSA Deadline Dec. 1, 2020
College Signing Week May 3-7, 2021
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Montana University System| www.mus.edu
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