To inform parents about the basics of college planning, college counselor Malia Kau organized a complex-wide College Planning Day on Oct. 27 from 9 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. to offer financial, application, and admissions advice.

“My goal is to educate parents a lot earlier, especially about financing education because college is so expensive,” Kau said. “So, I’m hoping they learn a lot today.”

The fair was open to students in grades six through twelve from Aliamanu Elementary, Aliamanu Middle, Hickam Elementary, Makalapa Elementary, Mokulele Elementary, Nimitz Elementary, Pearl Harbor Elementary, Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary, and Radford High Schools.

The morning consisted of college planning sessions for parents and their children. Although the fair lasted a few hours, families were able to obtain plenty of information in the sessions that were offered.

“We’re including an Admissions 101 session, and we have a college admissions representative from McDaniel College in Maryland, we have Honolulu Community College’s financial aid office and VA benefits office talking about FAFSA, we have another college counselor from Kalaheo talking about scholarships, and then HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union is talking about financing your college education,” Kau said.

Ralph Caguiao (12) said, “I believe a lot of people are gonna obtain a lot of information that will help them get to college and find out what they need to make it there.”