NORFOLK, Va. — The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia has an initiative called Level Up designed to help students following graduation.
School systems like Accomack County and Hampton are partnering with the council to help with FAFSA applications and to help students figure out whether they would like to attend trade school or earn a certificate in a program.
When it comes to applying for financial aid, those with SCHEV tell News 3, the process has gotten much easier over the years. With it on average taking about 15 to 17 minutes to complete.
In Virginia last year, over 71,000 people applied , with many qualifying and receiving Pell Grants between $5,000 and $7,000.
For those who need help completing their application, there is a free help desk available by text with a live person available to assist, Text "Hello" to 434-478-4003 .
"But there are some very good certificate programs here in Virginia that you can use at the community college that you can use your financial aid for," said, Melissa Benavidez of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia So that's why I'm always like, it's a free application. Complete the application. It might open up some doors and you can see, OK, I can use my aid for this. And we're very lucky in Virginia, there's a lot of support."
The next Level Up webinar will be held April 21.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
