Student Story: Lilyana Salazar

My name is Lilyana Salazar. I am a first generation Mexican American and college student. I come from a big family, six siblings in total. My parents are no longer together and my mother is not in my life. I have taken care of my sister from my mother’s side for most of her life.


I have lived with my uncle for about 4 years. I applied for multiple universities and got accepted, but because of many factors, I decided to attend Everett Community College. It honestly felt like I had no other choice. Financially, I could not afford to go anywhere else because I come from a low income family and I take care of myself financially.

Having financial stability can be challenging, especially without a support system. The United States has a lot of money, but decides to not invest it in their students. Investing in their students will help better for this country’s future. With that being said, I have personally faced financial barriers to accessing higher education, especially when it came to FAFSA. I didn’t get the option to attend a university because of financial reasons. I had a difficult time filling out  FAFSA due to my family situation. After some research, I was able to find the dependency override form, which allowed me to apply for financial aid without my mother’s information. I did have to find three people that could testify for my family situation, which made the process a little more difficult. 

During Fall of 2022, my financial aid didn’t come through, which left me with no option but to pay out of pocket for my tuition. 

Overall, it was a hard transition from high school to college because there was a lack of information given to me about financial aid and there was no one to help guide me through the process. I believe if the first two years of college were free, it would be a game changer for students. It would take off the financial burdens, more students would want to attend college, students’ academics would improve significantly, and transfer rates would increase.

Lilyana Salazar, Lake Stevens