Career and College Support

- January 15 - Community College Career Explorations in manufacturing, construction, business, healthcare, culinary and more... (Hawk Career Center, come during either lunch)

- January 15, 6:00 pm - Pre-Nursing Information at CCC via zoom

- January 16 - Health Sciences - Presented by a Surgeon. Sign Up. Learn about Career Pathways, what they mean and how to find your path through it. Freshman and Sophomores can learn how to position themselves for a variety of paths as well. (Hawk Career Center).

- January 28, Providence CNA Nursing virtual info, even if you cannot attend, please register to get access to recording.

- February 12 - Law Career Day at Tonkon Torp  

- February 13 - Public Health and Exercise Science Day at Western Oregon University

- February 13 - Kaiser Permanente Career Day 

- February 21 - OnPoint Community Credit Union Career Day 

- February 26 - Howard S. Wright Construction Career Day 

- February 28 - Oregon Humane Society Career Day 
- April 28 - Oregon Business Academy, - Week long Summer camp at OSU, need based scholarships available, Apply early. Business Week is an outstanding leadership development and resume building opportunity for students. 

- January 14, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm AND January 15, 6:00pm - 8:00pm -FAFSA/ORSAA Workshop   Sign up. Drop by the Hawk Center to fill your FAFSA / ORSAA and have questions answered. Parents / Guardians welcome. Note: nclack email id needed for sign up.

- February 12 - Instant PSU Admission Application. Sign up coming soon. Seniors who are interested in applying to PSU can sign up for application support, application fee will be waived and you can know instantly, regarding your admission decision! Note: nclack email id needed for sign up.

- FAFSA & ORSAA are now open. 

- FSA ID - start the process ASAP, so any issues can be resolved, before it impacts your financial aid!.

• You will get your ID, then invite a contributor (parent/guardian). Parents: only create a FSA ID if you don't already have one.
• FAFSA is now open!. Use the Form 2025-2026 
• Make sure you use full school name "Adrienne C. Nelson High School" with CEEB code 380062. 
• Additional details in 'Paying for College' section below.

- FAFSA Estimator - estimates costs ahead of the FAFSA opening date.

- Naviance and Common App - link the apps. Go to Naviance -> Colleges I'm Applying To - to start this process. This enables recommendation letters, transcripts and other school information to be sent directly to colleges.

- Stop by the Career center for any help/questions/just to chat for College Applications/Financial Aid/Career direction/Apprenticeships…

- Preview days at University/College of interest - These are great opportunities to learn about various Majors.

- Heading into an Apprenticeship program - many have long wait times, stop by to start strategizing the process early.

- January 14 (11:35 am), Study Abroad opportunities in High School. Feel free to bring your lunch to the Hawk Career Center and learn about options.Need based scholarships are available. 

- Check for Preview days at University/College of interest - These are great opportunities to learn about various Majors.

- Heading into an Apprenticeship program - many have long wait times, stop by to start strategizing the process early.

- Juniors - This is a great time to start thinking of Career/College/Trades after high school. Please stop by for any help or just a conversation.

- Sophomores & Freshman - We can help you make the most out of high school class offerings. Do plan on attending College Visits, to learn what is expected, reduce stress and focus better.

Do not apply for any scholarship that requests any payment, personal information like bank information or Social Security number, or guarantees any award. 

When in doubt, contact your Counselor or Aspire Mentor.

• Check Naviance for local scholarships.

• Oregon Promise - Apply for Community College or Dual Enrollment tuition grant .

• OSAC Scholarships - apply to 125+ scholarships with one application (search for Cheat sheet in your email). Scholarship amounts $1,000 - $20,000. Apply by February 18 to enter Early Bird Raffle of $1000. Last year 4 ANHS students were awarded a total of $14,100! 

• North Clackamas Education Foundation - search here for district scholarships.

• Federal Grants are available.

• Ford Family Foundation - for significant need, almost full ride scholarship for Oregon residents. Register for Information Session

• Oregon Grants, There are several really great grants including for barbers and hair dressers.

• Chaffee Grant - for students who've been in the foster care system, need based

• Oregon Tribal Student Grant - full ride, last dollar check details

• Many scholarships including Full Ride Scholarships are available after submitting your application to a college. Often the deadlines for the high value scholarships are within days of early application deadline.

Do not apply for any scholarship that requests any payment, personal information like bank information or Social Security number, or guarantees any award. 

When in doubt, contact your Counselor or Aspire Mentor.

• Check Naviance for local scholarships.

• December 31 - Niche $50,000 no essay scholarship entry.

• January 15, Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship, for awards to $20,000, need based.

• January 17, Profile in Courage Essay Contest, Awards up to $10,000

• January 22, Microsoft Imagine Cup, team project awarded scholarships of $100,000.

• January 31, National Eagle Scouts, Up to $50,000

• February 1, Portland Community College (PCC) Foundation Scholarships, after applying to PCC.

• February 9, Dream Big Scholarship  - first gen college bound, $2000.

• March 1, Oregon ATCE - scholarships for trades, flight school, culinary and more...

• JLV Counseling Scholarship Search - provides thousands of scholarships listed by deadline or categories (including for all grades). Subscribe to get weekly email updates and are not required to enter any personal information.

• Big Future – College Board Scholarship Search: Find matches from more than 6,000 programs totaling over $4 billion scholarship dollars yearly.
• Other worthy scholarship search sites:
  • Scholarships.com - including scholarships for all grades
  • Oregon Goes to College
  • Fastweb
  • Going Merry
  • Cappex
  • Bold.org
  • Unigo

02/20/2025 @ 01:10 pm University of Utah

• Please sign up in Naviance for attending the college visit (ask how in the Hawk Career Center/Counseling) You are welcome to bring lunch to the Hawk Center for this meeting.

Preview Days are a great opportunity to visit the College,  meet students, learn about majors and clubs... (Listed in Alphabetic Order)

- Portland Community College - sign up early (Limited space) to check out many exciting opportunities including in Health Sciences & Trades.

-- Eastern Oregon University -   Campus Visits | Admissions (eou.edu)

- Oregon Institute of Technology - Fall Preview Day (oit.edu)

- Oregon State University - Visit Programs | Visit OSU | Oregon State University

- Oregon State University -Cascades - Beaver Preview Days | Visit OSU-Cascades | OSU-Cascades (osucascades.edu)

- Portland State University -  Preview Day | Portland State University (pdx.edu)

- Southern Oregon University - Preview Day Events at Southern Oregon University, Office of Admissions

- University of Oregon - Duck Preview (uoregon.edu)

- Western Oregon University -   Fall Preview 2024 (wou.edu) (Aspiring Teachers Day)

• Stop by the Hawk Career Center for help about Careers and Colleges including applications, trades and apprenticeships, financial aid, career paths, etc.
• Help with understanding Apprenticeships - many have long wait times, stop by to start strategizing the process early.
• 1:1 support is available to you in:

- Figuring out your Major

- College or Trades route

- Finding Financial Aid or Scholarships

- Filling Applications, FAFSA, Essays, SAT or No SAT

- Stop by for just a chat!

- Parents or Guardians are welcome to make appointments as well

• Reliable College Information - US Department of Education. You can search by school or field of study in the top bar.
• Sabin Schellenberg - great way to explore 17 Career fields for free, many students leave with valuable certificates. 
• Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) - students are offered greatly discounted tuition to over 160 universities in 15 nearby states. Check qualifying degrees and deadlines. 
• Health Care Pathways -  see menu on left for length of study. (Check Community Colleges also)
• Careers in Nursing, Education expected, and Salaries.
• Niche - free login to get suggestions for colleges that meet your needs.
• Transfer Credits - to see how your credits will transfer to colleges.
• Aspire - great resources for career exploration and college search.
• Oregon Occupations in Demand 2024
• Oregon Careers Magazine - Jump to page 42. (Spanish Version)
• Oregon Career Explorer - Oregon salaries, job openings, and future growth. 
• Occupational Outlook - national current salaries, job openings, and future growth

• Application Deadlines
  • EA or Early Action - non binding, typically apply early (Oct./Nov.) to multiple colleges and receive admission decision in Dec. - Jan. Recommended option for most students. 
  • ED or Early Decision - binding agreement if accepted. You can only apply to one college. Most students are at a financial disadvantage in this route.
  • RD or Regular Decision - apply based on regular application deadlines and receive decisions by April 1.
• Common App - for applying to many Colleges (Bachelors Programs) with one application.
• Common App Line by Line Help - search Contents on the left for help on each section. Helpful to have this site and your application open at the same time. 
• College Essay Workshop - an NCSD workshop and accompanying guide. 
• How to Write a College Essay - Oregon Goes to College page.
• If you are considering a Gap Year, it is best to apply to college and then delay the starting date.

• Dual Credit and AP Courses - great way to save college money by earning college credits for free while in high school. These transfer credits could help you graduate a semester early.
• Sabin Schellenberg - great way to explore 17 Career fields for free, many students leave with valuable certificates. 
• Estimate your cost for College.

• Portland Community College:
  • Transfer Majors - majors including in Engineering,  Biology and Health Sciences areas.
  • HealthCare - degrees and certificates, 6 mos to 2 years
• Clackamas Community College:
  • Transfer Majors - majors for Liberal Arts, Business, Computer Science, Engineering and Horticulture.
  • Healthcare - degrees and certificates, 6 mos to 2 years
• Mount Hood Community College:
  • Transfer Programs - Everything you are looking for will likely be here.
  • Healthcare - navigate to Healthcare, Medical, Fitness
• Dual Enrollment or Co-Admission programs. - Public universities in Oregon have partnerships with community colleges where students can choose to be enrolled in both colleges. Students are required to apply to both colleges and/or complete a separate application to be dual enrolled. Search “Dual Enrollment” on the website of the university/college you would like to attend for specifics about each school’s process.
  • Oregon State University/Linn-Benton CC option 
  • University of Oregon/Lane County CC option
• Community Colleges have great options for Apprenticeship Programs.

Apprenticeship Overview - short video by Oregon Employment Department.

Pre-Apprenticeship programs - accessing programs with little or no experience. 

Union Apprenticeships - for details on all the union apprenticeship programs.

Registered Apprenticeship Programs - details available at this link.

Apprenticeship USA - programs in Oregon

Aspire resources - information on apprenticeship programs

Community colleges offer great options for apprenticeship programs and certificates.

• Clackamas Community College
• Portland Community College
• Multnomah Community College

Speciality trades - many careers including barber schools...

Great books to help you understand the background about Colleges. These are all available in the school library for students to check out.

• Colleges that Change Lives - Loren Pope 
• Paying for College - Princeton Review  
• Who gets in and Why - Jeffery Sellingo 
• The Price You Pay for College - Rob Lieber 

Aspire often gets confused with AVID. Aspire is not a class.

Aspire is part of the Career Center support at ANHS. I meet with students/parents/guardians 1:1 to provide support for all things career/college related. 

Career Center provides help with:

• Selecting a Major 
• Technical School, Community College, 4 Yr. College 
• College list or details on a specific college
• Applications 
• FAFSA/ORSAA, Financial Aid, Scholarships
• Comparing Admissions
• Forecasting Classes in high school to support or explore Career Goals 
• Using Naviance 

There are additional subject matter experts who mentor from the community as well.

Aspire Program Opt-Out