St. Norbert College Freshman uses scholarships in De Pere

High school seniors head off to college, wondering how to pay for their education.

((tom)) many will apply for student loans - but not one young man took another route seeking scholarships and says you should too.

Local 5's kris schuller reports he devised a plan and it has paid off.

When nick surprise took a tour of the st.

Norbert campus last year - while trying to decided which college to attend - he immediately knew he'd found a home.

Surprise: 49:41: it didn't feel like i had to act in formal academic setting, felt like i was walking on to a second home but with tuition running about 40 thousand dollars a year - this biology major and music minor - knew he would need financial help.

Determined to avoid student loans - he went after scholarships.

Surprise: 50:19: i already had a plan that i need to apply for as many scholarships as i can, that wasn't an option.

Using information from his high school - he found scholarships to apply for.

Put together a spread sheet, gathered the documents need to submit, and over 5 weeks - filled out 40 applications.

Surprise: 51:29: this weekend i'm going to do seven, this weekend i'm going to do eight.

And in the end - was awarded over 100- thousand dollars from 19 different organizations.

Frinzi: 9:28: i know he put a lot of effort into applying for those scholarships.

Admissions counselor maribeth frinzi says millions of dollars in scholarships are available for college students each year.

Frinzi: 8:54: available from outside companies, organizations, family foundation that want to give back .

Money awarded for things other then a students grade point - money that helps students pursue their dreams. frinzi: 9:02 : you don't want to leave money on the table.

Surprise: 56:45: there are so many scholarships out there that anybody can apply for & 59:28: it is a lot of hard work and you have to put in the work to have the opportunity.

Ks-lc5.

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((tom)) and surprise says he just sent out another seven scholarship applications - to help pay for his junior and senior years at st.

Norbert college.

((erin)) an event in