Resources
Interests and Jobs
Education Options
Financial Aid and Student Loans
Interests and Jobs
- Interest Assessment: Need some help honing in on your work-related interests? Consider taking the interest assessment from the Virginia Education Wizard to get a better handle on your interests.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Explore the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook to find a job that fits your interests. Each job profile contains information about the responsibilities, education and training requirements, pay, work environment, and outlook for the job.
- Occupational Employment Statistics: If you want more specifics about a job that matches your interests, check out the Occupational Employment Statistics database from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here, you can find industry and geographic breakdowns of employment and salary data in each job profile.
Education Options
- College Navigator: Discover schools by using College Navigator provided by the National Center for Education Statistics. You can search for schools by level of award, institution type and more. The school profiles contain in-depth information such as tuition costs, financial aid and accreditations.
- College Search Tool: Using the College Board’s College Search tool, you can search for schools based on factors that may be most important to you, like school size, location or majors offered. The resulting profiles for each school include application deadlines, campus life descriptions and more.
- College Scorecard: Check out the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard to search for colleges based on criteria you choose. The resulting financial profiles include the average net price, graduation rate, loan default rate, and median borrowing for attendees at the school.
Financial Aid and Student Loans
- Federal Student Aid: Look through the Federal Student Aid website provided by the U.S. Department of Education for comprehensive information about types of financial aid, financial aid eligibility, applying for aid, and managing student loans.
- Student Loan Comparison Calculator: Learn more about the different types of student loans using the College Board’s Student Loan Comparison Calculator, which helps you compare the terms and costs of available loan options.
- Financial Aid and College Cost Comparison: If you want to compare schools from a financial perspective, check out the Financial Aid and College Cost Comparison tool provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This interactive resource allows you to input costs and funding information for different schools in order to compare your estimated student loan debt at graduation.
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid: To apply for financial aid, file a FAFSA online through the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid website. This application determines your eligibility for federal financial aid and may also be used to determine your eligibility for state and school-sponsored aid.