Get answers to your college questions Saturday in Aurora

The college decision is always a big one for high school students and their parents.

Choosing where to apply is only the beginning of a phase of decisions about what to study, which school to attend, where to live and how to pay for it.

The best defenses against the pressure of such decisions are information and planning, say organizers of the fifth annual College and Career Fair hosted by the DuPage County NAACP.

From 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, organizers invite students in sixth through 12th grades and their families to visit with college representatives, learn about scholarships and attend college preparation workshops, said Angie Thomas, chairwoman of communications.

The theme of the fair is "Excellence without Excuse." It helps start the conversation about college and set the expectation that students won't stop learning once they get their high school diploma.

"It's all about setting the expectation early," Thomas said. "It's never too soon to let students know, 'We expect you to go on after high school. We expect you first to finish high school and then go on to a higher education.' "

Attendance in the hundreds at the first four college and career fairs has told organizers there's a need for the information. Maria Curry-Nkansah, a school board member in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 and co-chairwoman of this year's fair, said she hopes the event will attract more than 1,000 attendees.

"The annual College and Career Fair rotates among five core school districts and this year we are so fortunate to be hosted by District 204 and Waubonsie Valley High School," said Curry-Nkansah, who works as chief operations officer of Physical Sciences and Engineering for Argonne National Laboratory. "The fair brings together a wealth of financial and academic expert resources that position students for postsecondary success and expose them and their parents to a variety of options."

Schools represented include some public and some private, some big and some small and some historically black colleges and universities. Thomas said Northwestern University, Michigan State University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and the United States Military Academy at West Point are among those that will have a presence.

Scholarship organizations that will be on hand include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and the minority educational assistance organization UNCF. Information about more than 500 scholarship programs will be available, organizers say.

Colleges and universities will host booths until noon, then workshops on college readiness and scholarships will last until 1:30 p.m.

"College readiness is always something that we discuss - what students need to do to ensure that they will succeed and make a successful transition from high school to college," Thomas said.

Superintendents or other top administrators from school districts 87, 88, 129, 204 and 365 also will be on hand to participate in a town hall discussion about curriculum and school policies.

"Even though most of our schools in the Western suburbs are pretty good, there are some gaps between some of our student populations," Thomas said. "We just want to give students every opportunity to learn about colleges and universities they might attend."