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Forsyth County students applying to in-state public colleges can do so free of charge if they get those applications in by the end of the week.

University of North Carolina institutions will waive application fees for all students from 39 disaster-declared counties, including Forsyth County, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians during College Application Week, Oct. 21-27.

College Application Week is a statewide initiative to encourage high school seniors to pursue higher education, and many colleges and universities in North Carolina waive their application fees during this period.

The institutions offering free applications to high school students from disaster-declared counties are: Appalachian State University; N.C. State University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of North Carolina at Charlotte; University of North Carolina at Greensboro; and University of North Carolina Wilmington.

“UNC System universities want to ease one small burden for students and families as they try to recover from this disaster,” said Dr. Bethany Meighen, the UNC System’s vice president for academic and student affairs. “We encourage all students to take advantage of the fee waivers during College Application Week.”

In addition, the following UNC universities will waive application fees for all North Carolina high school students next week regardless of where they live: East Carolina University; Elizabeth City State University; Fayetteville State University; North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University; North Carolina Central University; University of North Carolina Asheville; University of North Carolina at Pembroke; University of North Carolina School of the Arts; Western Carolina University; and Winston-Salem State University.

Several universities will also extend fee waivers beyond College Application Week for students from the disaster-declared counties, including N.C. State, UNC-Chapel Hill and UNCW. More information is available on each university’s website.

The other disaster-declared counties are Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell, Catawba, Cherokee, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Iredell, Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Nash, Polk, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Surry, Swain, Transylvania, Union, Watauga, Wilkes, Yadkin and Yancey, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

The application fee waiver will be extended to any counties that may be added to the federal disaster declaration for Helene prior to the end of College Application Week on Oct 27.