As high school students in the Waukegan area learn which colleges accept them and their available financial assistance, there are a number of smaller scholarships of a few thousand dollars that can help reduce the cost of their education and reduce potential debt from student loans.
Aaron Arnold, the executive director of Waukegan to College, said the organization helps prepare first-generation college students for the experience. They can start as early as middle school, learning how to apply, what to expect and how to pay for their education.
Arnold said the organization sets a goal of ensuring the difference between the amount of financial aid a student receives and the full cost of attending the school of their choice is no more than $3,500. The hope is no debt at all.
“Every penny helps, especially in the first year,” Arnold said. “Once they’re there, they can better anticipate how much they will need.”
Waukegan-area high school seniors planning on college or trade school after graduation can now apply for a variety of scholarships for thousands of dollars online or otherwise to help fund their education, with deadlines looming as early as April.
Cecilia Rico, a college and career readiness manager for Waukegan Community Unit School District 60, works at the Washington campus of Waukegan High School, where juniors and seniors attend. Her job is primarily counseling students for life after high school.
Rico said the first thing students should do is complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. Once done, it lets them know much financial assistance they can receive based on their family’s economic condition. It does not bind those offering private scholarships.
As students learn where they are going to school, Rico said they can use an online guide — SchooLinks — to help them find a variety of smaller scholarships. Many are never sought by students.
Evonda Fulton, District 60’s college and career coordinator for postsecondary education, said students considering college should get an early start considering schools and the cost, even as early as their freshman year in high school. She encourages them to seek local scholarships, as well as national ones.
“There will be less people applying for the local scholarships,” Fulton said. “It gives them a better chance.”
Many of the state schools, like the University of Illinois at its campuses in Champaign and Chicago Circle, Northern Illinois University, Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois, among others, offer a major benefit. Rico said they waive tuition for top performers.
“Northern Illinois University waives tuition for students with a grade point average of 3.0 (or better),” Rico said. “There are conditions like family income. The programs vary from school to school.”
New in recent years among locally originated scholarships is the addition of trade schools for grants awarded by the Waukegan Park District and the Waukegan Public Schools Foundation. Tuition at Waukegan Technical School, to learn how to be a plumber, electrician or HVAC technician, ranges from $3,500 to $7,500.
Adriana Gonzalez, who is one of the members of the Waukegan Public Schools Foundation who helps manage the Waukegan Strong Scholarships, said a condition of the grant is a desire to return to Waukegan and be committed to the community. People in the trades can meet the requirement.
Ben Richards, the grants and special projects administrator for the Park District, said one of the conditions for the organization’s five $1,000 awards is a desire to return to the city and choose a career in parks and recreation. There are positions for people with the skills of a carpenter or an electrician.
Known as “stacking scholarships,” Gonzalez said receiving $4,000 over four years from Schueler Scholars and another $1,000 from I’m First, as the first in her family to go to college, made a difference in her four years at Pomona College, an elite school in Claremont, California.
“It helped me get airfare to go home for Christmas and over the summer,” Rodriguez said.
Carolina Fabian, a member of the District 60 Board of Education and the Waukegan Public Schools Foundation, who works with Gonzalez on the Waukegan Strong Scholarships, said two $3,000 scholarships are awarded annually. The application deadline is April 3.
“We focus on students who are involved in Waukegan,” Fabian said. “We want them to come back here and live here. We want them to bring their talent home.”
Richards said the Park District is also looking for people who want to return to their hometown and potentially work there with parks and recreation. The individuals need to live within the Park District’s boundaries — they are different from the city’s borders — and will be at a college or trade school this fall.
Waukegan Township is involved in the awarding of 10 scholarships, according to information on its website. There are five $1,000 grants for township residents either in college or heading there in the fall, and four $1,000 awards for students going to a historically Black college or university.
Along with the nine $1,000 township scholarships, there is also a $5,000 scholarship from the Coalition to Reduce Recidivism for people studying criminal justice, human services, psychology or a related field.
Waukegan Township Supervisor Marc Jones said in a text that although the scholarships cover a fraction of the cost of going to many colleges and universities, they can help with the purchase of books, travel home or other needs because, “every little bit helps.”
“We feel that it is important to award these scholarships to the youth in our community to assist in making access to a secondary education as equitable as possible despite a student’s economic status,” Jones said.
Arnold said Waukegan to College has a variety of scholarships it is able to offer through the largesse of donors. They range from $43,000 over four years to $4,000 over four years. There are 36 seniors headed to college in the fall through Waukegan to College.
Rico said other local scholarships include grants from sororities and fraternities, Baxter Credit Union, the Justus D. Howell Scholarships, the Christopher D. Redding Youth Asthma Foundation scholarship and elsewhere.
Details on the scholarships can be found on the organizations’ websites.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/waukegan-college-scholarships/
