1 California Cash for College Line-by-line, step-by-step, a brighter future for all students… 2005 FAFSA Community Workshop Series

2 What is California Cash for College (CCFC)?  A project of the California Student Aid Commission/EDFUND and The James Irvine Foundation.  The workshop series aims to help low income and first generation college-going students and their families complete the FAFSA and other financial aid forms.

3 What is CA Cash for College?  Now entering 4 th Year  136 workshops statewide in 2004  Since 2002, more than 18,000 students statewide have attended workshops  Community coalitions work directly with high schools, higher education financial aid offices and outreach programs to conduct workshops

4 Top 5 Reasons to Send Students to a Cash for College Workshop… 1.Friendly, helpful people like yourselves will say, “You CAN Afford College, and here’s how!” 2.Having students draw parents to a workshop offers them needed “quality time” 3.January & February are “Focus on the FAFSA” months! 4.Can get help with tax preparation 5.Can win 1 of 10 $1,000 Scholarships in a statewide drawing – just for attending and filling out a survey!

5 More Reasons to Send Students to Cash for College Workshop…  Another opportunity to get free professional and knowledgeable help on the FAFSA  Multilingual materials and assistance for parents  Will leave armed with road map to finish FAFSA, to navigate award letter process, and with financial literacy materials  Did we mention the $1,000 Scholarship drawing? 10+ scholarships offered to students statewide

6 Who Attends Workshops?  High school seniors and those students who would qualify for the Cal Grant Entitlement program  Parents and Guardians  Low income and first generation college-goers  All students who want help in completing the FAFSA and other forms are served

7 Workshops in January and February?  Scheduled evenings and weekends in January and February to give students and families a second or third pass at the FAFSA  To make sure we help all students who need to fill out the FAFSA  In January and February, the FAFSA can be filed and W-2 information is more likely to be available to students and their families.

8 How can Students Find out about Workshops ? Visit Click on “Workshops,” enter your zip code for a list of workshops within an 80 mile radius.

9 Cash for College Partners who “Speak FAFSA” at Workshops  High School Counselors and their member organization  Financial Aid Administrators of all segments and their associations

10 Cash for College Partners who “  the FAFSA”  All higher education segments  Student Outreach Programs  Community organizations  IRS – Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Regional Coalitions  Statewide labor groups  Statewide coalition of faith-based groups  Elected officials  Foster care program representatives  Workforce Investment Board/Youth Councils

11  95% of students told us the workshop was excellent or good  93% of students told us it was worth the effort of coming to the workshop  52% of student respondents who participated in California Cash for College workshops will be the first in their family to attend college. What Students Told Us In 2004: It’s All Good…

12 What They Told Us In 2004: Parents Matter!  51% of students whose parent/guardian attended completed FAFSA at the workshop  Only 34% of students attending alone completed FAFSA at the workshop

13 What They Told Us In 2004: School is where it’s AT….  50% of students told us they heard about workshops at school  21% of students told us they heard through a workshop organizer  Only 14% said they heard about workshops through newspaper, radio or TV

14 What They Told Us In 2004: Among “at school” responses, who or where they heard about workshops

15 What They Told Us In 2004: Workshop Organizers made an Impact How students said they heard from Workshop Organizers

16 What They Told Us In 2004: Did Students Meet March 2 nd Cal Grant Deadline? 76.1% Met Deadline 13.1% Didn’t Want to Say 10.7%, Did NOT Meet Deadline First-time calling project reached 2,851 students who attended workshops Results include complete contacts and refusals, “no answers” not included

17 Ways to Link School and CCFC Efforts Send students and their parents to a California Cash for College workshop Work with regional and local organizers to hold workshop at high school site Post California Cash for College workshop locater link to your school website More options are welcome, we want to hear from you!

18 Ways to Link School and CCFC Efforts  The statewide CCFC office coordinates individual efforts. For more information, Despina Costopoulos:  Regional offices: In Metro and Greater LA, Alma Salazar: In San Diego and Imperial counties, Linda Doughty: In the Central Valley, Cheri Cruz: In the Bay Area, Ellen Cunningham: Capitol Region - TBA