Million Dollar States
$1 Million for Access in California
Kathleen deLaski announcing $1 million to help California families
In December 2005, The Sallie Mae Fund launched a $1 million statewide campaign to raise awareness about college financial aid options in California's minority communities. The campaign is aimed at narrowing the financial aid information gap that keeps many qualified minority students out of college.
A survey commissioned by The Sallie Mae Fund and conducted by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI) reported that three out of four Latinos not in college cited a lack of financial aid as a reason for not attending college. The same study showed that less than 20% of Latinos have an accurate perception of the costs of attending a University of California or California State University campus.
The Sallie Mae Fund’s efforts in California include:
- Univision Financial Aid Call-In Program: The Sallie Mae Fund joined forces with Univision 34, the Los Angeles affiliate of the Spanish-language television network, to answer questions from Latino families about planning and paying for college. Learn more about financial aid for California students in English or en Español.
- Bus Tour: The Sallie Mae Fund’s popular “Paying for College” Bus Tour visited 15 cities in California this spring. Now in its fourth year, the Tour brings with it free workshops and information on scholarships, grants, loans, and federal aid.
- Kids2College: The Sallie Mae Fund, in partnership with the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute and the California State University Chancellor’s Office, offers an early college-awareness program for sixth graders to bring to life the dream of higher education. Sixth-grade classes are paired with either Cal State Los Angeles or Cal State Fullerton to participate in lessons on careers, college life, and how to choose courses that give them the greatest range of options for education beyond high school. Over 2,000 sixth graders from seven districts in Los Angeles and Orange counties benefited from this program in 2007, which culminated with a visit to one of the partner universities.
- PIQE Partnership: The Sallie Mae Fund has made a commitment to help the Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE) provide training for an additional 2,000 parents across California. PIQE is nationally recognized as a leading organization that trains immigrant parents on how to advocate for higher education for their children.
- Scholarship Directory: The Sallie Mae Fund sponsored a scholarship directory and new report by the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute: College Scholarships for Latino Students: Are Opportunities Being Missed? The directory can be accessed online at www.LatinoCollegeDollars.org.
- California Dollars for Scholars: The Sallie Mae Fund sponsored California Dollars for Scholars fundraising walks at USC, UC San Diego, and Cal State Fresno to help the organization expand its chapters statewide.
- Adelante Mujer Latina: The Sallie Mae Fund provided a replication grant for the Adelante Mujer Latina conference to help the organization expand to other cities in the state. The conference currently serves more than 1,000 Latina girls in grades six through twelve from San Diego's North County.
- Peer Counseling: The Sallie Mae Fund provided a grant to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund at UCLA to help the university's scholar chapter assist Latino students in their transition from community college to four-year institutions.
- SummerTIME Program: The Sallie Mae Fund provided a grant to the University of Southern California's "SummerTIME" program—a writing boot camp at the USC campus for minority students accepted at the nation's top universities.
- Free Educational Materials: In partnership with State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell, The Sallie Mae Fund distributed free planning and paying for college educational materials in English and Spanish to California high schools.
