About 75 percent of West High students are planning on going to college. More than half of them plan on going to college outside of Alaska, but how do they plan on paying for college? An interesting thing about the seniors at West High is only half of these students know what career they want to pursue. So how are these students preparing for their future lives after high school graduation?

Luckily a lot of Alaskan students have been able to collect some funds for college by saving money from their PFD. This is a great opportunity for students that have been living in Alaska long enough to collect their PFD. After interviewing a couple seniors one student said,” I haven’t gotten my PFD because it has all been going into my college fund.” Another student said, “I’m planning on working while I go to college to pay for everything.”

Based on the surveys about half of the students at West High still didn’t know what career they wanted to pursue. The majority of them are going to college so they will have to decide there. If students stay in Alaska for college there is a lot of job opportunities for people with a high school diploma. Although it seems that more people are going to try and go to college out of state.0

Just about all the West High seniors that took the survey and were interviewed said they were scared for the future. One student said,” I’m scared because I’m going to be moving to attend college alone, but I’m excited because I’m ready to start my life after high school.” Going to college is just another step into becoming an adult for these seniors.