Hi, my name is Veronica Popovic. I am a Los Angeles County-based Consultant, Educator, and Mentor sharing my scholarship expertise. I am a first-generation college graduate, Chicana/Latina, and mother of young twins. I have a Master’s of Education in Postsecondary Administration and Student Affairs from the University of Southern California (USC). I recently had $28,700 in student loans forgiven through the Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF)!
If you are a student or the parent of a student, you should know that “the average federal student loan debt balance is $37,667.”* I know, that’s a scary number! I had student loan debt myself and I have twins that will one day be attending college at the same time! (Excuse me while I talk through my anxiety… “you’re fine, you’re fine, you started a 529 college savings plan for them, you’re good!”). Ok sorry, back to you, the reader – scholarships, other sources of funding, and resources (such as PSLF and the 529 college savings plan) are available. I don’t want to start things off on a downer so here’s a happier, more uplifting figure – “Each year, an estimated $46 billion in grants and scholarship money is awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and the nation’s colleges and universities. An additional $7.4 billion is awarded through private scholarships and fellowships.”**
I genuinely care about student success and helping students graduate debt free. I started my career working in high school college offices and managing federally-funded, college-readiness programs for middle school and high school students. For 12+ years I worked in university financial aid & scholarship departments – I was responsible for managing internal university scholarships, mentoring highly motivated college students, and advising students on becoming competitive scholarship applicants.
Throughout my professional career, I have assisted hundreds of students from underrepresented communities, including BIPOC students, first-generation college students, foster youth, students from low-income households, students who were formerly incarcerated, transfer students, undocumented students, and veterans.
When students frequently check in and keep me updated about their aspirations, progress, and wins it makes me feel energized, inspired, and motivated to advocate for them and seek out additional opportunities for them. I’ve been this way since I first started helping students get into college, when I was still a college student myself.
In regards to my scholarship expertise, not only do I have experience advising students with searching for scholarships and applying to scholarships but I also have experience from the perspective of the decision-maker. I have personally selected students to win internal university scholarships, I determined their award amounts and I coordinated their awards with other sources of financial aid. I have volunteered as a Scholarship Reader for various national scholarship competitions. Each time I volunteer, I gain insider knowledge and build upon my expertise on how to advise students to become competitive scholarship applicants. In 2016, my former staff and I won the Scholarship Provider of the Year Award from the National Scholarship Providers Association!
We’ve all heard that millions of dollars goes unawarded each year. The exact figure is “$100 million…this is mostly due to a lack of applicants.”*** Follow me as I share college funding opportunities, tips, and advice. My goal is to demystify the scholarship selection process and empower students to graduate with little to no debt! Let’s do this!
*https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics
**https://www.scholarshipproviders.org/page/nsm
***https://www.scholarshipproviders.org/page/nsm