AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – This month, application fees for high school seniors are free for more than 60 colleges and universities across Georgia.

Augusta University and Augusta Tech are two of our local colleges participating in this promotion put on by the Georgia Student Financial Commission.

Both Augusta University and Augusta Tech are hoping to see more students on campus and in the classrooms.

“If you have a student that maybe wants to apply to 10 institutions, that could be $400 or $500 in application fees, and some students just don’t have the ability to do that,” said Nichole Spencer, Augusta Tech Student Affairs vice president.”And then you have to pay it up. You can’t submit your application in most cases without that fee. So it is giving students the opportunity to apply to more colleges, shop around the Georgia match programs, and also take the difficulty out of the application process by giving that direct match.”

Giving more people the chance to apply who might not have applied before.

“Anything that we can do to make it easier for a student to apply to make it easier for a family to afford college is going to trickle down into all of our communities,” said Amy Smith, associate vice president for enrollment management. “Whether that’s first-generation students who maybe their families aren’t as familiar with the college and application process or underrepresented communities or lower socioeconomic background families.”

It’s only their second year as a part of this program. Last February, Augusta University had around 400 applications and Augusta Tech had around 600.

In March, Augusta University jumped to nearly 700 and Augusta Tech to just over 1,400, hoping to bring in even that many applications again, if not more this year, and so far, they say they’re right on track.

“So I anticipate seeing a similar volume this,” said Smith. “So again, you know, 700 students that this takes advantage of this opportunity I think is really amazing.”

Breaking barriers with a goal to keep students local and bring more in from outside the CSRA to help build up augusta as a whole.

“It can be a daunting task for a lot of institutions, including our own,” said Spencer. “So this program has really helped I think to bridge that gap for students and give them more access to into higher education.”

There are more than 60 Georgia colleges and universities waiving application fees for the month of March.

Depending on which one you’re applying to, there are different ways to get that fee taken off.

You can see all the colleges and universities that will waive application fees here.

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