What School Counselors Want YOU To Know And what they need to know from You! Linda Pacewicz, PHEAA Dan Wray, PHEAA Amy Spangler, Windber High School Bedford Springs, October 12-14, 2015
Your Presenters Linda Pacewicz Higher Education Access Partner, Northeast Region PA Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) 570-592-1209 lpacewic@pheaa.org Daniel Wray Higher Education Access Partner, South Central Region PA Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) 814-889-1056 dwray@pheaa.org
Your Presenters Amy Spangler School Counselor Windber High School (814) 467-4567, Ext:237 aspangler@windberschools.org
Today s Agenda Roles of Counselors Interaction with Financial Aid Helping students help you Bringing it together
PA Counseling Stats HS Counselors are NOT mandated in Pennsylvania Causing shortfalls within school districts 952 PA Sr. High Schools, 549 private PA Schools Not including elementary and middle schools PA Elementary & HS Counselor ratio average: 386 students to 1 counselor This is often higher, depending on the school district Stats based on US Dept of Education, National Center for Education Statistics and the American Counseling Association
PDE Required Training Education Specialist Certificate Act 48 Continuing Education Credits 180-hour requirement every five years with acceptable professional education courses or activities in one or a combination of the certified specialty Secondary Schools are required to have a written Services to Students Plan and Chapter 339 Counseling Plan PDE: Pa Dept. of Education
Services to Students Plan Categories within the plan are individual to school type and size but should include: Guidance Counseling Psychological Services Health and Social Services Services for Personal and Social Development Issues Services supporting Academics Services for Behavioral Health
PA Chapter 339 PA requires school districts to have a K-12 School Counseling Plan to assist with Career Development PDE provides models to assist in meeting the PA Career and Work Standards for elementary through HS PHEAA provides tools to help schools meet the standards More emphasis and attention has been placed on this topic to help with Career Planning
Financial Aid training? No mandates, programs or courses in attending and funding post secondary education are required for Counselors to assist on this topic PHEAA School Services College Admission Visitors PHEAA Counselor Workshops Other entity workshops - College Board, PACAC Individual research, experiences Individual Financial Aid Offices!
The life of a HS Counselor Course Scheduling Career Counseling Workshop planning College Admission visits Parent/Teacher Night prep Scholarship information Tutoring programs Admission applications Tracking participation Transcript preparation Letters of recommendation SAT and AP courses Upset parent interaction Parent/student meetings Student social issues Bullying Girl/boy friend breakups Home abuse or neglect Disruptive behavior Truancy Testing Coordinating with Faculty School Board Approvals Answering Questions
How does PHEAA Help? PHEAA School Services Division Resource to the Secondary Guidance Counselor Annual Financial Aid Workshops, coordinated by PASFAA and PHEAA Publications and materials to educate EducationPlanner.org MySmartBorrowing.org YouCanDealWithIt.org Classroom, Assembly and Parent workshops Financial Aid, FAFSA Jr. Jump Starts Career Research and Planning Scholarship Search Affordability, making smart choices
How can the Financial Aid Office help? Based on feedback from Counselors Don t presume families know what to do, that they ll attend information sessions or read the materials Many will procrastinate or ask before doing individual research Mainly for verification, it s confusing! Provide information on the school s scholarships with Admission acceptance and Award Packages Reinforces Scholarship search Offer students clear information - when and how Advise deadlines - early - don t assume students will know Make it easier to search and find information about Aid Net Price calculators help; easy to find? Is your Award Letter clear or clouded?
More Financial Aid Office help Provide a Financial Aid contact for the HS Counselor They know the Admissions contact, do they have a FA name? Realize students don t always have parental support or resources The Counselor is that person Families have comfort levels with their HS Counselor Confusing Aid questions may not come to you Encourage Admissions to talk about ways to cover or help with costs On College visits; at College Fairs
Assisting students Social Media Trap Students rely more on what they are reading on Social Media instead of research Income and financial information is sensitive Families don t want to share or advise a Counselor Too close to home, they d rather talk to a FA office Financial Literacy is needed Students don t understand debt Reinforce the message
How we ll share your info Your feedback will be shared by PHEAA Monthly newsletters on timely topics Upcoming Annual Counselor Workshop Personal interaction with the Counselor offices
What FA wants a Counselor to know Department of Education regulations must be followed for Title IV Aid Compare apples to apples with Award Letters Similar status schools have similar Aid Families call expecting more money Financial Aid Offices are normally understaffed and have high student to counselor ratios too Be detailed when sharing student exception information Document; Letters
What FA wants Counselors to know
Sharing Sharing information and concepts of each other s environment will help students make better choices Opportunity to free up schedules and time for each office with increased understanding and communication