The cost of tuition for new college students continues to rise, but the financial burden won't be as heavy a load to carry for one Sharon Senior High School student.  
 
Ariana Davidson, a junior, went on bigfuture.org and applied for scholarships. Davidson was very surprised to have a $40,000 dollar check presented to her at her high school.
 
"I was thinking $200 dollars," said Davidson. "But then when they said $40,000 dollars, I was not expecting that at all," she said.
 
Davidson was presented the award in front of her peers, during a college readiness assembly where she thought she'd be introducing a College Board speaker. When Davidson walked to the front of the auditorium, officials brought out her big check.
 
"It's just so exciting because now i can apply to the school that i've always wanted to go to and this is just really, relieving," Davidson said. 
 
College board officials really put an emphasis on opportunities like this, trying to encourage students to go after free scholarship money and start their college careers on the right foot.
 
"This is huge. It opens up opportunity for students to pursue their college dreams, to go where they want to go," said Cassandra Allen, Director of State and District Partnerships at College Board. "For a lot of students the money is a big hindrance. $40,000 dollars is going to make a big difference," she said.
 
All high school students have to do is get on bigfuture.org, and do any one of six steps including, exploring colleges and making a list, refining that list, practicing the SAT, searching for scholarships, completing the FAFSA, and applying to colleges.
 
You need at least two colleges on your list to be automatically entered in the drawing, for $40,000 or $500 dollar scholarships. Winners are chosen at random for each scholarship.
 
"You have a chance to win $40,000 dollars just by applying to college. How crazy is that? I mean, it's life changing," Allen said