College & Career Center Newsletter
October 2026
FAFSA is Open!
Seniors, FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is a free application form from the U.S. Department of Education used to determine a student's eligibility for federal financial aid, such as grants, work-study programs, and loans. Many states and colleges also use the information from the FAFSA to award their own grants and scholarships, making it the primary source of financial aid for college or career school.
Seniors this year will complete the 27-28 FAFSA application and will use 2025 tax information. Students will need to complete their application first and will invite their parent to complete their portion of the application. Parents, please wait for the emailed invitation.
Students and parents will each need to first create an account at the link below.
ORSAA (for undocumented Oregon students) is OPEN NOW! https://oregonstudentaid.gov/fafsa-orsaa/fafsaorsaa-information/
Link to FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
Need help? See Mrs. Molony in the College & Career Center.
Oregon Promise Will Open Soon!
Seniors, The Oregon Promise is a state grant that helps cover tuition costs at any Oregon community college for recent high school graduates. Students must apply during their senior year .
Complete all of the steps by your application deadline (varies by graduation date). For most students, you MUST apply during your senior year of high school (before you graduate).
How to Apply:
- Submit the Oregon Promise application in the OSAC Student Portal.
- Submit the FAFSA or ORSAA for the year that you will start college.
- List at least one Oregon community college on the FAFSA or ORSAA
Questions? Ask Mrs. Molony @ molony5@gresham.k12.or.us
NACAC College Fair October 18th (Sunday) and 19th (Monday)
Are you looking for an easy and convenient way to learn about colleges and their admissions process? Plan to attend the National College Fair-Portland. This event is free to any student and parents. Stop by booths and meet college reps, learn about programs, admissions, scholarships and more. All ages are welcome to attend.
Please note: The College and Career Center will take a small group of juniors and seniors on Monday, October 19th from 8am to 11:30am. You will need to register with NACAC and with Barlow to attend the field trip along with turning in a parent signed permission slip.
Step 1: Barlow Registration
Step 2: NACAC Registration - this step must be done on a personal device due to chromebook limits.
Step 3: Parent Permission Slip: English, Spanish
***Permission slip must be returned to the College and Career Center by Oct 8th.
College Visits at Barlow
Want to see a calendar of upcoming college visitors?
Check here for more information, dates and times. (Scroll down the site to the calendar of events.)
Students will be excused from class to attend these visits. All visits will be held in the library unless stated otherwise. Please check in with your teacher in advance as you are responsible for any missed work.
10-1: Lewis & Clark College, 1st Period @ 7:35am
10-1: Portland State University, 7th Period @ 1:40pm
10-7: Carroll College, 2nd Period @ 9:20am
10-8: George Fox University, 4th Period @ 10:20am
10-8: Pacific University, 6th Period @ 12:45pm
10-12: Gonzaga University, 6th Period @ 12:55pm
10-13: University of Oregon, 4th Period @ 10:20am
10-14: University of Portland, 2nd Period @ 9:20am
10-15: Linfield University, 6th Period @ 12:45pm
10-22 Grand Canyon University, 3rd Period @ 9:25am
10-26: Willamette University, 1st Period @ 7:35am - This visit will be in room 104
Portland Workforce Alliance Career Days
BOTH forms need to be submitted! Spots are limited, and fill up quickly, so don't delay!
Bruins Go To College Week!
College Application Week or Bruins Go To College as we call it here is coming soon! Here's a lineup of our events to help seniors with those applications. Click on links to sign up for the application workshops.
Monday November 2nd - PCC Application Workshop 4th period
Monday November 2nd - University of Alaska Fairbanks College Presentation 6th period
Monday November 2nd - Southern Oregon University Application Workshop 7th period (you can have your app fee waived if applying during this period!)
Friday November 6th - Portland State University Application Workshop 4th period (app fee waived if you attend)
November 3rd, 4th period - Common App Workshop
November 4th, 4th period - FAFSA/ORSAA Workshop
November 4th, 4th period - Oregon Promise Workshop
Monday November 9th - Mt Hood Community College Presentation and Drop-In Appts 3rd period
Scholarships!
Voice of Democracy Scholarship-due Oct. 31 (all grades)
Delete CyberBullying-due Oct 31 (all grades)
Zombie Apocalypse-due Oct 31 (all grades)
Elks Lodge Most Valuable Student Scholarship-due Nov. 12
Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award-due Nov 9
NHS Scholarship-due Nov 20
Ron Brown Scholarship-due Dec 1
McDonald's Hacer Scholarship - TBD
Jiffy Lube 'What Drives You" Scholarship-Due March 9 (all grades)
Comprehensive Scholarship List
Oregon Goes to College Scholarship List-various due dates
Register Now! OCTOBER 14th Statewide Paying for College Night
Families will receive:
• Financial aid information
• FAFSA and ORSAA guidance
• Live Q&A with financial aid professionals from across Oregon
Sessions will be available in English and Spanish, with additional language support currently being explored.
Families can register here: https://bit.ly/PFCE_OR
Explore Engineering Majors Virtually with OSU
Join OSU for a series of online events to connect with Oregon State University College of Engineering students and hear their stories firsthand. After submitting your registration, you'll receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link to access these sessions. Whether you attend one event or all of them, we encourage you to also visit our campus and take a tour with one of our students.
Learn more and register here: beav.es/coetalks
(scroll to the calendar on the bottom and select the date of the event you'd like to attend. Register will display after selecting the date)
Volunteer Opportunity - Kelly Creek Elementary Harvest Festival Oct 27th
Our biggest event of the season, Harvest Festival, is coming up and we are looking for volunteers to help make it a hit! Harvest Festival is a fall themed event where students can dress up in their halloween costumes and socialize with friends. We plan multiple activities and games for students to play and win prizes throughout the night as part of the entertainment and need volunteers to help monitor the game stations and hand out prizes.
Harvest Festival will be on October 27, 2026. Volunteer shifts will be between 4:00pm-8:30pm to cover set up, game stations, and clean up.
Please sign up on a personal device as Sign Up Genius is blocked on school issued chromebooks.
Students interested in volunteering can sign up using this SignUpGenius link
Helpful ASPIRE Publications
This publication is aimed at the career planning needs of students. It contains information about how to select and prepare for a career.
Oregon Opportunities Guide -This booklet contains information to help high school students prepare for postsecondary education, choose a college, and apply for financial aid. Read more about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), sources of federal and state aid, and eligibility criteria. The Oregon section contains details about financial aid resources administered by OSAC.
Oregon Opportunities Guide-Spanish - Coming soon!
ASPIRE Calendar 26-27 - The 2025-2026 ASPIRE Calendar includes a checklist of career and college going activities as well as important monthly dates and events.