This month, Kentucky students will get new free tools to make college planning easier. The state’s new one-stop college-planning website, gohigherky.org, will be fully operational this month. And the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority’s revised college-planning books have been shipped to high school guidance counselors to give to students.

A cooperative effort among colleges, state agencies and other organizations, gohigherky.org can be used by students in grades 8-12. The site contains sections on planning for college, selecting a school, paying for college and adult education.

Students can set up free accounts that will let them apply to colleges online. A transcript exchange will also let students send their high school transcripts electronically with their online applications. Students can also run free scholarship searches to find financial aid programs that match their interests, abilities and backgrounds. They can also transfer their information to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), used to apply for federal aid programs.

There is also a Counselor Center that will help counselors track their students’ progress through the college admissions and career exploration processes. Another section of Go Higher focuses on distance education, such as the Kentucky Virtual University and Kentucky Virtual Adult Education.

The revised books from KHEAA include Getting Started for freshmen, Getting Set for sophomores, Getting Ready for juniors and Getting In for seniors. This is the 30th year KHEAA has published Getting In to guide seniors through the admissions and financial aid processes. Copies will be sent to counselors later this month or in early September.

KHEAA will also send copies of Affording Higher Education, which lists more than 3,500 student aid programs available to Kentucky students, to counselors, school libraries and public libraries.

A KHEAA publication geared toward nontraditional students, Adults Returning to School, will soon be shipped to public libraries and adult education centers around the state. Copies can also be obtained by contacting KHEAA.

All these publications will also be available on www.kheaa.com.

For more information, visit www.kheaa.com. You can also write KHEAA, P.O. Box 798, Frankfort, KY 40602-0798; call (800) 928-8926, extension 7381; or e-mail publications@kheaa.com.