Visit our College Financial Aid page (under College and Career Planning menu) to download the Local Scholarship Application.  While you're there, don't forget to review the rest of the page for more about securing free money for college!

If you think you aren't worthy of scholarships, think again!  From scholarships for your height to scholarships for best duct tape prom dress, there are a variety of scholarships that don't necessarily require financial need and/or academic prowess.

Follow the link to see CNBC's 7 of the Strangest College Scholarships
As always, you can also visit the NMHS Counseling Office's own College Financial Aid page for more information about state and federal aid, aid based on financial need and merit, and searching for scholarships.

Once a high school senior has filed their FAFSA as well as been accepted to a higher education institution, that school's financial aid office gets to work on the student's financial aid award package.  After interfacing with the appropriate federal and state agencies to confirm what free money (grants and scholarships) and federal education loans the student is eligible for, the financial aid office lets the student know what college financial aid is being offered to them and gives them the opportunity to accept or decline the different sources.

But what if the federal/state free money and federal ed loans won't totally cover your cost of attendance?  Visit HomeRoom, the blog of the US Department of Education, to learn their suggestions:

7 Options to Consider if You Didn't Receive Enough Financial Aid

Here are the latest additions to the scholarship page:

Regions Riding Forward Scholarship Essay Contest - February 28 deadline
Must write an essay of 500 words or less about an African-American who has inspired you. Minimum GPA of 2.0. $5,000 scholarship award each for 15 high school seniors.

State Farm Good Neighbor Scholarship - March 2 deadline
Established to provide financial assistance to fifty high school seniors who plan to attend college, technical, or vocational school, but may not be able to meet the expenses of a higher education without such aid and often do not qualify for other scholarships.  Cumulative GPA requirement of 2.50 to 3.20, and applicant must demonstrate financial need.  $2,500 award each for up to 50 high school seniors.  Also, scholarship is renewable for up to one additional school year if eligibility is maintained.

Also, don't forget about the NMHS Local Scholarship Application, featured at the top of our College & Career Planning page--deadline of February 1!

For more information about these and other scholarships, visit our College & Career Planning page!

America wasn't built from behind a desk, but now this country is suffering a skilled trade skills gap and nobody seems to be talking about it.  Georgia is no exception--even as unemployment rose in recent years, there were still more skilled trade job openings than there were skilled workers qualified to take those jobs.  Go Build Georgia is an initiative to usher Georgia career seekers into these high-demand skilled trades (such as welding, brickmasonry, plumbing, electrical tech, and carpentry).  These tend to have shorter postsecondary training but can still have higher salaries and more job security than meets the eye.

For stats on the national and Georgia's skilled trades gap and a skilled trades career exploration tool, please visit GoBuildGeorgia.com.