COLORADO SPRINGS — Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs capitalized on Colorado's annual Free Application Days by hosting a three-day event to help seniors send out as many college applications as possible; the event ran from October 20 through October 22.
The event, called "Camping Out for Colorado," ran during the statewide window when many colleges waive their application fees.
"We go from eight in the morning to 10 o'clock each night to ensure that our students have fun and feel celebrated and supported during the process," said Stephanie Cornelio, post-grad counselor at Pine Creek High School.
Post-grad counselors were available throughout the event, and each night students were provided dinner — tacos on the first night, breakfast for dinner on the second, and pizza on the third.
Seniors say having a dedicated space to apply, with food, friends, and experts nearby, makes the process far less overwhelming.
"I feel that is extremely helpful to me as a senior because there's a lot of stuff on the application that I don't understand and it's great that our counselors allow us to have this time specifically with them so they can answer our questions and help us figure out things," one senior said.
Another student echoed that sentiment.
"You don't feel quite as alone in the process. You're not just at your computer trying to figure everything out on your own. There's someone next to you telling you everything that you need to know, so it's just a lot less stressful," the student said.
The program at Pine Creek started 5 years ago and has grown significantly in its impact.
"When we started this, I would say that we probably saved our families about 20-thousand dollars in applications," Cornelio said.
Last year, Cornelio says students completed over 1,000 applications, saving families more than $35,000; their ultimate goal is to give students as many options as possible when it comes to their future education.
"We just want higher education, whether that be trade school, 2-year college or 4-year college, to be an option for them," Cornelio said.
2026 marks the 9th year for Colorado's Free Application Days.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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