ONE OF TEN WAYS UP

College

A degree still opens the most doors in this town, and you don't need rich parents to get one. Between Parkland and the U of I there are more free on-ramps here than almost anywhere in Illinois. The trick is starting the paperwork early and letting the right people help you.

College can start now. Dual credit. Free support. A plan that fits your money. A student and a mentor working through it on a laptop in a library.
Start early. Pay less. Upward Bound. FAFSA. Parkland Pathway. A student filling out forms at a library table with a mentor beside him.
No rich parents required. Real on-ramps. Real aid. Real degrees. A student with a backpack stepping through a glowing archway of books toward a sunny campus.

The Plan

  1. Talk to your counselor this week

    Ask about dual credit classes and the North End Minority Scholarship. Counselors control more doors than most kids realize, and the ones who ask get remembered.

  2. Apply to Upward Bound as a freshman or sophomore

    It's free, it runs all the way to graduation, and kids who stick with it go to college at nearly double the average rate.

  3. Take dual credit classes at your high school

    Real college credit, usually free. You can walk into college with a semester already done.

  4. Use the Parkland Pathway if money is tight

    Two years at Parkland prices, then guaranteed junior-level admission to the U of I. Same diploma at the end as everyone else.

  5. File the FAFSA in the fall of senior year

    It's the form that unlocks almost all the money. Upward Bound and your counselor will sit with you and do it line by line.

Where To Start, Right Here In Town

TRIO Upward Bound at the U of I

Free college prep that runs from freshman year to graduation: tutoring in math, English, and science, ACT prep, campus visits around the country, and real help with financial aid forms. It has operated since 1966, and 88 percent of its students go on to college.

WHO Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors at Centennial, Central, or Urbana High; income-based or first-generation COST Free

Fill out the Upward Bound Initial Application online, or call (217) 333-0054.

Principal's Scholars Program (U of I)

A U of I program that has run since 1986, with after-school and Saturday workshops on getting into college, STEM career exploration, and field trips. Champaign and Urbana students are exactly who it's built for.

WHO Elementary through high school students COST Free to start; call to confirm

Call 217-333-0234 or email psp@illinois.edu. There is no online form; a call is the way in.

Parkland Pathway to Illinois

Do two years at Parkland while taking some U of I classes, then transfer straight into the U of I as a junior, guaranteed if you complete the program. You pay Parkland prices for half of a U of I degree.

WHO Illinois high school grads and GED holders; first-time students preferred COST Parkland tuition (about $2,000/yr in-district) for the first two years

Apply to Parkland starting September 1, then submit the Pathway application on myIllini starting March 5.

North End Minority Scholarship

A scholarship from the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois for one graduating minority senior at each of the three public high schools, for students with academic promise and financial need heading to a public college.

WHO Graduating minority seniors at Central, Centennial, or Urbana High COST N/A, it pays you

Ask your high school counselor about it by fall of senior year. It moves through the counseling office.