Ferndale High School’s Class of 2025 may have officially finished high school on June 6, but for many graduates, their educational journeys aren’t finished yet. Our Golden Eagles are flying the coop and will land all over the globe this fall – from Pullman to Phoenix, Mt. Vernon to Maryland, Lummi Nation to London.

The furthest a student will travel is to Richmond American University London, located in the British city’s west end. Two other Golden Eagle grads will make a 2,800+ mile trek to universities near our nation’s capital: George Washington University in D.C. and Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland.

A handful of graduates will make their way to the Midwest, with one student each attending Michigan State University, Purdue University (in Indiana), University of Northwestern – St. Paul (in Minnesota), and Pittsburg State University (in Kansas … not Pittsburgh, PA).

Even more students opted for a Goldilocks option – not too far away, but not too close. The most popular non-Washington states for FHS grads were Oregon and Arizona, with five students each. Three students opted for the sunshine and sand of California (including one who will attend one of America’s most prestigious public universities, the University of California – Berkeley), while six students in total picked schools with mountainous beauty in Idaho, Montana, Utah, and New Mexico.

However, the most popular choice by far was to stay close to home.  Out of the 149 graduates who told us their post-FHS plans, 124 will stay within the state of Washington. Nearly 90 of those will continue their schooling within Whatcom County. The three most popular schools for FHS graduates were Bellingham Technical College (35 students), Whatcom Community College (26 students), and Western Washington University (19 students). Five students will attend beauty schools in Bellingham, while one will attend Northwest Indian College in Lummi. Two more students will make the short commute to Skagit Valley College in Mt. Vernon.

When it comes to Washington’s most prominent collegiate rivalry, Ferndale grads overwhelmingly preferred the Cougars: 16 students plan to attend Washington State University, compared to eight at the University of Washington (both Seattle and Bothell branches). Other Washington schools students plan to attend include Seattle Pacific University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, the Digipen Institute of Technology, and Edmonds College.

Eight graduates told us of their plans to enlist in the armed forces: three joining the U.S. Marine Corps, two each joining the Air Force and the Army, and one joining the Coast Guard. Other students plan to jump right into workforce training in a variety of careers, from an electrical apprenticeship to a firefighting academy.

Luckily, many of our graduates won’t have to pay the full sticker price of university tuition due to their hard work: The Class of 2025 earned a combined $220,000 in scholarships! Some of the larger awards include:

• The WSU Distinguished Regents Scholarship earned by Allison Durocher and AJ Schuman, which covers full tuition for 4 years
• The UW Presidential Scholarship earned by Kalliyan Svann, which covers $10,000 per year for 4 years
• The Washington State Opportunity Scholarship earned by Bibi Brown, Bella Burns, and Katie Manly, which covers up to $22,500
• The George Washington University Presidential Scholarship earned by Missy Tsegaye, which covers $12-20,000
• The Gonzaga Academic Excellence Award earned by Julia Chao, which covers $19-30,000 annually for 4 years
• The Grand Canyon Presidential Scholarship earned by Samantha Foss, which covers $6,100 annually for 4 years
• The Mount Saint Mary’s Provost Scholarship earned by Jacob Gandy, which covers $30,000 annually for up to 4 years

Congratulations to all of our FHS graduates! We are so excited to see the difference you make in the world.

Here's an interactive map of where our Golden Eagles will travel to this fall: