COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) announced today that 2022 College Application Season is underway across the state - an annual program that helps high school students navigate and complete their college applications.
More than 200 events are scheduled this season, which runs from September through November.
In 2021, 238 high schools participated, and nearly 20,000 seniors collectively submitted close to 36,000 applications.
“College Application Season events provide real-time opportunities for students to receive help with the first step in the college access process: the college application,” said Gerrick Hampton, EdD, associate director of the CHE Office of Student Affairs. “College Application Season is effective because it represents a collaborative effort amongst the CHE, higher education institutions, and high schools to support seniors in accessing higher education.”
College Application Month was first held in South Carolina in 2009 and has become a vital component of state efforts to encourage college attendance. The program’s success has grown tremendously since its inception. In its first year, just 12 high schools participated, with 1,000 seniors collectively submitting about 2,000 applications.
The high school and higher education communities recognize the program as being especially helpful to students from under-resourced communities and backgrounds.
Kay Moxley, career specialist in the School Counseling Office at Walhalla High School in Oconee County, noted the program is important to her students because it gives seniors support in navigating the college application process.
“It brings college and university representatives into our school so that our students see that they are helpful, approachable and supportive professionals who are here to help,” Moxley said. “It also provides fee waivers that can really save our seniors significant money on application fees.”
Initiatives to increase college access, to include College Application Season, support the CHE’s long-term strategic goal to increase higher education attainment among South Carolinians from 48 percent in 2022 to 60 percent by 2030.
