College Planning and Financial Aid

About College Search and Planning

The college search and planning process can be exciting and challenging for students and their caregivers. The College Counseling program at Holyoke High School suggests using some of the following tools and resources to assist you in this process.

Search for Colleges: College Search Tools

College Planning Tools

Admissions Criteria for MA State Public Universities
Programs for students hoping to transfer from MA community colleges to 4 year universities (Mass Transfer and Commonwealth Commitment)
CollegeWise: a great resource for all things college: counseling, test prep, etc.

Applying to College Resources

The Common Application is an application used by many colleges
Transcript Request Form (use this form to have a transcript or counselor letter of recommendation sent to colleges or other institutions)

Resources for Financial Aid

FAFSA Night English Presentation | FAFSA Night Spanish Presentation
The Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA) has great workshops, recorded webinars, loan repayment calculators and support staff to help you understand financial aid.
Net Price Calculator: this tool is available on every college financial aid website and will estimate how much financial aid any individual college is likely to give to a student
Federal Student Aid website: provides information about loans and other federal financial aid resources. Also has a loan repayment calculator
Financial Aid Applications:
- Each college has different financial aid applications and deadlines. Students must visit college financial aid websites to learn about their applications and deadlines. The two most common financial aid applications are:
- FAFSA (required by all colleges)
- CSS/PROFILE (required by many colleges)
HHS Scholarship List
Collegeboard Opportunity Scholarship Program-students are encouraged to sign-up for this college planning and scholarship program. It’s easy!