Application fees. Transcript requests. Financial aid forms. Unfamiliarity with campuses and the enrollment process. Figuring out how to choose a major. Transportation to campus.
These are but a few of the barriers that first-generation college students, including refugee students, face when exploring post-high school options. For many students, a 2-year or 4-year degree can be a pathway to financial stability and job security.
Many refugee students have the potential and the desire to attend college, but many do not understand the steps to get there. Further, their parents do not understand where to take them.
This summer we took nine Migros Aid students on a campus visit to Ivy Tech in Indianapolis to see the opportunities offered close to home. It was their first time to visit a college campus.
Students explored the campus and ate in the dining hall. They learned about majors and walked through the welding labs, culinary kitchens, and classrooms. Ivy Tech representatives explained all the support systems waiting for them on campus.
We hope to take students on more college visits. Although not all students want to attend college, we never want an unfamiliarity with the collegiate world to be why they don’t. These are students with unlimited potential, and we want them to know that every opportunity can be available to them!
