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

2. CA Cash for College Overview Now entering 4 th Year More than 18,000 students statewide estimated to have attended workshops since 2002 Community coalitions work directly with high schools and higher education financial aid offices to conduct workshops Workshops extremely well received by students Students Rate Workshops: 2003-04

3. Benefits to Counselors CA Cash for College offers: An additional opportunity to help students and their families line-by-line with the FAFSA Professional and knowledgeable hands-on assistance with FAFSA completion $1,000 Scholarship drawing – 10 statewide Resource materials, tips and guides Coordinated outreach materials to publicize workshops Enhanced relations with members of local community

4. When are Workshops held? Workshops begin the third week of January and continue through to the March 2 nd Cal Grant deadline. Workshops begin in January when the FAFSA can be filed and W-2 information is more likely to be available to students and their families.

5. Who Attends Workshops? 300 target high schools identified based on Participation in the National School Lunch Program Lower academic achievement (bottom half of the Academic Performance Index) Lower college going rates (lowest quartile) High school seniors and those students who would qualify for the Cal Grant Entitlement program. Families of students While focus of workshops is to serve low income and first generation college goers, all students who attend receive assistance

6. CA Cash for College Partners High School Counselors/ Western Association for College Admissions Counseling (WACAC) All higher education segments Community organizations Internal Revenue Service – Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Statewide labor groups Statewide coalition of faith-based groups Pacific Institute for Community Organizing Elected officials Foster care program representatives

7. 2003-04 FINDINGS: Most workshop participants (77%) said they had limited or no knowledge of how to apply for financial aid prior to the workshop. Student’s Previous Knowledge of Applying for Financial Aid Q: Before you heard about this workshop, did you know how to apply for financial aid?

8. 2004 FINDING: Slightly more respondents will be the first in their family to attend college than those who will not. Statewide, 42% of high school seniors would be the first generation in their families to attend college. Among low income households, 57% would be first generation college-goers. First to Attend College - 2004 Q: Will you (the student) be the first member of your family to attend college?

9. Impact of Attendance with Parent or Guardian on FAFSA Completion Rates 2004 FINDING: Student attendance at the workshop with a parent or guardian had a positive impact on FAFSA completion rates Note: Total does not equal 100% because data is derived from two different sets of respondents -- those who did attend with parents and those who did not.

10. How Did They Hear About the Workshops? (2,083 Respondents) (808 Respondents) (415 Respondents) (888 Respondents) Overall Results

11. How Did They Hear About the Workshops? Breakdown of SCHOOL-BASED Communication (2,083 respondents)

12. Communication Vehicles (top 5 ways people heard about the workshops, by region)

14. Workshop Phone Follow Up Did students follow through to meet March 2 nd Deadline? 2170, or 76.1%, Submitted Forms By March 2nd 373, or 13.1%, Undecided/ Refused to Answer 308, or 10.7%, Did NOT Submit Forms by March 2nd Overall Call Results (2851 contacts)* *Results include complete contacts and refusals, “no answers” not included

15. 2005 CCFC WORKSHOP SERIES SAVE THE DATES! LA Free Cash for College – College and Career Convention – Nov. 3-4, 2004 LA Free Cash for College Workshops – Saturday, January 22, 2005 San Diego Cal-SOAP Cash for College Workshop – Saturday, January 22, 2005

16. 2005 CCFC WORKSHOP SERIES For information on statewide CCFC efforts, email Despina Costopoulos: cashforcollege@csac.ca.govcashforcollege@csac.ca.gov This FALL, contact coordinators: In the LA region, email: asalazar@unitela.com In San Diego and Imperial counties, email: ldoughty@ucsd.edu ldoughty@ucsd.edu In the Central Valley, email: ccruz@csufresno.edu In the Bay Area region, email: ecnningham@chelafin.org