MACON, Ga. — Attention all high school seniors and families!
March is the month when students here in Georgia can apply to college for free.
But 49 Georgia colleges and universities have agreed to waive their application fees for high school seniors until March 31.
Now, students can apply to as many colleges as they'd like and leave their wallets in their backpacks.
Jeremy Edmond is an orientation coordinator at Middle Georgia State University. He said they bring in over 35,000 applications when the fee is waived, so they're bringing it back.
"When we mention anything about waiving the fee, a lot of people get excited," Edmond said. "Not only are we waiving the application fee, but we're providing an opportunity for those prospective students who desire to do so to complete the enrollment process in the same month, some as early as the same day."
Southwest High School senior Jordan Smith has applied to 25 colleges and was just accepted into Georgia Tech.
"This is probably one of the biggest accomplishments I've made," Smith said.
Smith was surprised by Georgia Tech's admissions director. He was surrounded by family, friends and classmates, and staff members who have helped and watched him grow.
"I felt supported," Smith said. "Obviously, applying to a school this big has been very stressful. I can say that but my parents and the facility here at Southwest and at Hutchings helped me out a lot."
Smith's teachers say he is academically at the top of his class, has a positive attitude, he's on the robotics team, participates in Skills USA and many other activities.
Smith plans to study electrical engineering with a focus in circuit technology and says he wants to be a role model for his fellow students.
"I'll be in a room with people just like me and it'll be big!" Smith said. "There's always more to learn and I hope I can bring it back here home to show people that somebody from a place like this can do big things."
Application fees are waived until March 31.
For the full list of the schools participating, you can go to www.GAfutures.org.