20 colleges, universities coming to Fort Mill fair

Fort Mill and Nation Ford High School students will have the opportunity to meet with college representatives from across the state and apply to more than 20 colleges and universities at an upcoming College Application Day event at the schools.

The schools’ guidance departments will team up to host the representatives Oct. 1 at their schools. Each school has held its own event in years past, but this is the first year the two schools have partnered to host the event, said Nation Ford guidance counselor Staci Dreher.

“We decided to partner this year to attract more college reps,” Dreher said. “Each school will have one session, which allows reps to have access to twice as many students.”

The U.S. Marines will be represented, as well as three out-of-state schools: The University of Alabama, High Point University and Appalachian State University.

Counselors and college representatives will talk to students about the colleges they are applying to and help them apply. The Nation Ford event will take place in the morning and move to FMHS in the afternoon. Some schools may offer incentives, such as waiving the application fee for the day, Dreher said.

“We are so excited,” Dreher said. “It’s a super awesome event for students.”

Other schools participating are Charleston Southern University, Claflin University, Coastal Carolina University, College of Charleston, Columbia College, Converse College, Coker College, Francis Marion University, Lander University, Limestone College, North Greenville University, Spartanburg Methodist College, The University of Alabama, The University of South Carolina – Columbia, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort, USC Lancaster, USC Upstate and Winthrop University.

Since 2009, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and the S.C. Department of Education has joined with The American College Application Campaign, a national effort to increase the number of first-generation and low-income college students. High schools across the state participate in similar events and initiatives in conjunction with College Application Month annually in October.

Last year, 122 students at Fort Mill and 131 students at Nation Ford participated in College Application Month, according to the S.C. CHE. At Indian Land High School, 62 students participated.

The first year College Application Month initiatives were implemented, 12 schools participated. Last year, 214 high schools participated, with nearly 65,000 college applications completed. Of the students who filled out applications last year, 29 percent were first-generation college students.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 4:27 PM with the headline "20 colleges, universities coming to Fort Mill fair."