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***image1***Finding the right college and subsequent financial assistance just got a lot easier for students living in military communities throughout Europe.
College Night offers one-stop shopping for higher education. The bonanza will happen from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Special Events Center, Bldg. 237 on Rhine Ordnance Barracks.
College Night offers all Department of Defense Dependent Schools – Europe high school students and their parents a chance to get first-hand knowledge about colleges and universities, scholarships and financial assistance.
“Not all students can go back to the states to see colleges,” said Lynn Rice, the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern’s school liaison officer. “And by having College Night here, it actually gives them an idea – ‘Do I want to go to this college?’ or ‘What does this college have to offer me?’”
Free and open to all ID cardholders, College Night is also a good opportunity for servicemembers, civilians, retirees and their families wanting to pursue higher education. Participation from other military schools in Europe is strongly encouraged. Middle school students may also attend.
About 120 accredited colleges and universities will have representatives at this year’s event, said Ms. Rice, who added this number is a slight increase from last year. These representatives are a mixture of university staff from the U.S. and alumni living in Europe.
There will also be representatives from scholarship and financial assistance agencies, and military recruiters.
Ms. Rice said that the number of attendees should also increase from last year. More than 1,200 students, parents, guidance counselors and teachers from DODDS and inter-national schools throughout Germany, Belgium and Italy attended the event.
This is the 12th year that the KMC has held College Night with the two local high schools – Kaiserslautern and Ramstein – rotating logistics and sponsorship. Last year was the first time the garrison’s Family Morale Welfare and Recreation directorate partnered with the host school.
“I really thought the event last year went a lot better than the only other year I’ve seen it when we hosted it at our school just because there was so much more room and the crowd had a lot more opportunity to get out and see those colleges and universities that were there,” said Greg Hatch, the RHS principal. This year, RHS is the host school for College Night.
The Special Events Center, where the garrison’s bazaars are held, is more than double the size of either school’s gym. Space is a big consideration because, as Mr. Hatch said, this event is designed for people to have direct contact with college and university representatives so they can concentrate on this possibly major, life-changing decision.
Planning for College Night starts in May of the previous school year and takes the collected dedication of garrison and KMC school staffs, members from parent teacher organizations, school liaison officers and community volunteers.
