RUMFORD — A cooperative effort by several organizations aimed at helping students go on to higher education has received a grant for the design of a financial literacy pilot project.

The $50,000 award from the U.S. Department of Education and administered by the Finance Authority of Maine will teach families that it’s possible to save for college, despite the increasingly high costs.

Mountain Valley High School Principal Matt Gilbert said that although 70 to 80 percent of seniors are accepted and enrolled in a two- or four-year college after graduation, a high percentage don’t attend.

“This sounds like just what this area needs for both the school and the community,” he said of the Maine College Access Grant.

He said most decide to drop their higher education plans between high school graduation and the following fall. Gilbert believes part of the reason is due to the expense.

The pilot project is called Starting Access Very Early, and is being created by a collaboration of Dorie Fellman, director of Partnership for Success, a program coming out of the University of Maine at Farmington, Barbara Radmore, director of the 21st Century program and head of the Western Foothills Kids Association at RSU 10, and Katherine Harvey, grant writer for the district and major player in the district’s Family Coalition group.

Families who participate will learn ways to save money, a little at a time, through a variety of means that will be introduced at a Financial Literacy Expo scheduled for January.

In the meantime, the local group is putting together some basic information on how and when to start saving for college that will be posted on kiosks in put up in the River Valley area next month.

“It’s been all over the news the amount of debt students have when they graduate from college,” Fellman said.

Radmore said public college tuition in the state of Maine is the third highest in the nation.

The Expo will include a series of workshops outlining small ways to save money, such as couponing, making gifts, creating a budget and others. There will be representatives from several financial institutions.

Fellman said the grant project aims to dispel myths that many may have, such as a government student loan will arrive just in time to finance college and that saving hurts financial aid opportunities.

All RSU 10 families may attend the Expo, however, a special program known as Passport, is open to just those with students at Mountain Valley High School.

Under this program, scheduled to start at the end of this month, families of MVHS students will receive credit for attending financial aid events during the next few months. The first 25 who attend five such activities will receive matching money to get a college fund started or to continue one already set up.

Also at MVHS, the National Endowment of Financial Education will launch an entrepreneurship class where participants will be given $25-$50 to start small businesses. At the end of the semester-long class, money made from each venture will be split for one-third savings, one-third for the student, and one-third for a community nonprofit group.

Gilbert said the pilot project will show people that the path to college is more than just good grades.

For additional details, or for businesses interested in hosting a financial aid kiosk, call Radmore at 357-6987.

The goal of saving money or living more cheaply is also getting a boost from the neighboring Region 9 Adult and Community Education program. Fall enrichment courses include those in couponing, budgeting and writing a long-term financial plan.