Things You Can Do to Make a Difference

Things you can do with kids:

1. Take your children, at all ages, to visit a college campus
2. If you went to college, talk about your experience with your kids
3. Make sure your kids know that you expect college to be part of their future
4. Bring your kids with you to college reunions
5. Send your kids to programs on college campuses - summer camp, advanced classes, sports programs, etc.
6. Encourage your child to attend an Early College program
7. Encourage your child to take a college course for credit
8. Volunteer to mentor a student through the college admission process.
9. Volunteer to mentor middle school students to get them thinking about college
10. Take your grandchildren on a trip to your college campus or one near you
11. Enroll in an Elder Hostel or Senior College program for Grandparents and their grandchildren
12. Talk with your grandchildren about their college interests at an early age
13. Attend a college fair event with your child or grandchild
14. Take advantage of Financial Aid nights at your high school
15. Become familiar with what today's colleges are looking for in an applicant and discuss it with your student

Things you can do on the local level:

1. Offer to help the guidance counselor at your local high school to sort through scholarship information.
2. Volunteer to speak to high school classes about your experiences in college.
3. Write an op-ed piece in the local paper extolling the benefits of a college education.
4. Learn how many kids graduate from your high school, how many go to college, and how many earn a degree
5. Ask your school administrators and school board members to make more college degrees a goal for your school system
6. Ask the school to track this information so improvements can be measured
7. Serve on your local school board
8. Start a movement to make applying to at least one college a requirement for high school graduation
9. Collaborate with your local paper to make college graduation as celebrated as high school graduation
10. Speak to the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, or other organizations in town about expanding scholarship programs

Things you can do at the state level

1. Write to your state representatives to let them know that you support higher education funding in Maine
2. Attend hearings in Augusta when higher education issues are at stake.

Things you can do to plan ahead

1. Establish a 529 college savings plan for your child or grandchild
2. Research scholarship programs that may be available for your child
3. Visit the FAME Website (www.famemaine.com)

Things you can do in the workplace

1. If you are an employer, start an incentive program for employees who want to go back to college
2. Make sure to reward and celebrate the success of employees who have earned college credits or degrees
3. Consider your college incentive program as a recruitment tool and promote it
4. If you are an employee, find out if your employer has a college incentive program and use it
5. If there is no program, propose one - and be the first to use it
6. Ask if there is a college incentive program through your industry trade association
7. Research continuing education programs that may have flexible evening or weekend classes that wouldn't impact your work schedule