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Financial Aid Tools on CaliforniaColleges.edu

Fall 2023

CSAC College Affordability Summit

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California College Guidance Initiative

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Who We Are

Manager of CaliforniaColleges.edu, the State of California’s official college and career planning platform
A legislatively-designated, authorized service provider to all California school districts (California Education Code 60900.5)
A crucial component of California’s Cradle-to-Career System, as established by AB 132

Who We Are Not

A vendor
A grant-funded program

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Why We’re Here

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To smooth the path to college and career for all California students

To support educators as they work in service of their students and communities
To ensure equitable outcomes for all students, especially the underserved

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What We Do

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We provide college and career planning tools to students and educators through CaliforniaColleges.edu.
We connect California systems, including integrations with all three public higher education systems (CCC, CSU, UC) and the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC).
We partner with school districts to bring high school students’ transcript data to CaliforniaColleges.edu.

CaliforniaColleges.edu is free to all public school districts that serve 6th-12th grade students in California.

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Implementing Equity-Focused State Policies

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AB 469

Universal FAFSA/CADAA for Graduating Seniors

AB 132

Cradle-to-Career System

AB 130

A-G Completion Improvement Grant Program

Districts can use the data and reporting tools on CaliforniaColleges.edu to make it easier to implement and comply with equity-focused state policies.

AB 2015

Financial Aid information

prior to Grade 12

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Uniquely Designed for California

When students launch college and financial aid applications directly from CaliforniaColleges.edu, students and educators can track their progress.

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COLLEGE

FINANCIAL AID

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CaliforniaColleges.edu Overview

We provide educators with:

We provide students with:

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Career Exploration

College and Major Search

College and Financial Aid Application Integrations

Financial Aid Lessons

CSU and UC Eligibility Tools

Reporting Tools

to Support Timely and Intentional Intervention

“a-g” Progress Monitoring

Data Alignment Support

College and Financial Aid Application Tracking

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Connecting California’s Systems

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School District

Student launches applications

from CaliforniaColleges.edu

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Alignment to Financial Aid State Policies

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Universal FAFSA/CA Dream Act Applications (EC 51225.7)

Financial Aid Education for High School Students (EC 51225.8)

Established by AB 2015 (2018), districts are required to ensure that each student receives information about how to complete and submit FAFSA or CADAA, prior to entering Grade 12.

Aligns to: CaliforniaColleges.edu Grade 11 Financial Aid Lessons for Students
Aligns to: CaliforniaColleges.edu Financial Aid Lesson Completion Report for Educators

Established by AB 469 (2021), districts are required to confirm that each 12th grade student has completed their financial aid application or has been opted out by a parent/legal guardian.

Aligns to: CaliforniaColleges.edu Grade 12 Financial Aid Lessons for Students
Aligns to: CaliforniaColleges.edu FAFSA/CADAA Application Integration
Aligns to: CaliforniaColleges.edu FAFSA/CADAA Status report for Educators

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The Financial Aid Tools

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Financial aid lessons: 6th-10th Grade

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Students can start their financial aid journey as early as the 6th grade. Students can:

Learn and compare the different types of financial aid, such as grant, loans, scholarships, etc.
Learn about the cost of college, including direct and indirect costs

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Preparing Your Seniors: 11th Grade

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Ensure your 11th graders are ready for financial aid applications by equipping them with foundational financial aid knowledge.

Understanding

Financial Aid

Finding College Costs

Our financial aid lessons:

Dispel misconceptions of financial aid by providing need-to-know facts only.
Build foundational knowledge of financial aid and the financial aid process that 12th grade lessons detail.
Take about 15 minutes to complete �each module, with 3 total modules.
Can be used as a launchpad for spring FSA ID creation to prepare for fall.

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The Financial Aid Roadmap: 12th Grade

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During their senior year, students will receive step-by-step guidance on how to complete their FAFSA/CADAA and choose the best offer for their needs.

Secure Aid

Check College Portals

and Review Offers

Review Student Aid Report and Cal Grant

Launch the financial aid application

Prepare for financial aid application

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Updated 12th Grade Financial Aid Lessons

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Our financial aid lessons:

Help students identify which application they need to complete—the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application
Provide students need-to-know information that can help them prepare for December, including

The need to create FSA IDs
The need to provide consent
The role of contributors
Possibility of needing multiple contributors

Include a checklist for students to begin gathering information and documents, which they can print out or reference on their Student Account

Our 12th grade financial aid lessons are currently available and updated to reflect the upcoming changes to the FAFSA.

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Financial Aid Lessons Reports

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You can assign students the financial aid lessons and run reports on students’ lesson completion.
Our reports reflect accurate student enrollment because they’re informed by the student transcript data that partner districts share with us.

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Launching from CaliforniaColleges.edu

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It ensures that students are accessing financial aid applications from a trusted source.
It allows students to track their financial aid application status as well as their Cal Grant GPA verification status in the same place that they track their college applications.
It allows educators to track students’ financial aid application statuses in reports.

Using the financial aid lessons streamlines financial aid application tracking.

When students launch from CaliforniaColleges.edu:

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Launching from CaliforniaColleges.edu

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1	Once a student is signed in, click My Financial Aid Plan.
2	Once the student clicks Launch FAFSA/CADAA, they will be taken to the corresponding application.

Students can launch their FAFSA or CADAA while the application window is open (December 31, 2023 - June 30, 2024)

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Financial Aid Reports

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Our financial aid reports:

Do not disclose if students are completing the FAFSA or the CADAA.
Are updated nightly due to our data agreement with CSAC.
Offer greater accessibility — multiple user accounts have access to students’ application statuses depending on your needs.
Allow for targeted intervention so that you’re able to focus on students who need more support

Financial aid reports help you track application statuses for students who launched their FAFSA or CADAA from CaliforniaColleges.edu.

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CCGI Partner Districts

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Our Partner Districts include nearly 200 school districts and serve more than 1 million 9th-12th grade students in California.

And each year, our partner list continues to grow!

More than 50% of California’s high school students are enrolled in a school district that has partnered with CCGI.

▼ See who our Partner Districts are ▼

californiacolleges.edu/learnmore/list-of-partner-districts/

Counties with school district partners

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Next Steps for Partner Districts

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1	Ensure students have registered their CaliforniaColleges.edu accounts.
2	Message and provide direction to students and any partner organizations that support college and financial aid applications in your district that students should launch their college (CCC, CSU, UC) and financial aid (FAFSA/CA Dream Act Application) applications from CaliforniaColleges.edu. This is how application status is returned to students and educators through the platform.
3	Utilize the financial aid lessons to help students learn about financial aid and to prepare seniors to launch their financial aid application.
4	Utilize the reporting tools to track students’ application statuses, identify students who have not yet completed them, and provide those students the support they need.

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Expanding Partnership and Supporting Implementation

CCGI has team members dedicated to serving districts across the state.

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Darice Ingram,

Director

Northern California

and Bay Area

Selma Gonzalez,

Director

Central California

Tamai Johnson,

Director

Ventura, L.A., and

Orange Counties

Julian McDaniels,

Director

Inland Empire and

Southern California

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Not Yet a Partner?

We partner with school districts that serve high school students.

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	To learn about bringing CaliforniaColleges.edu to your district, visit californiacolleges.edu/learnmore/partnership
	When your district is ready to explore partnership, email us at CommunityEngagement@CaliforniaColleges.edu

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Getting Started

Financial Aid Policy Implementation Using CaliforniaColleges.edu:

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Scan Me!

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Additional Resources

Get On-Demand Training on How to Use CaliforniaColleges.edu

californiacolleges.edu/#/virtual-trainings-partner-districts

Learn More About CaliforniaColleges.edu on the Resource Hub

californiacolleges.edu/learnmore/

Find Answers to Common Questions on Our Help Page

californiacolleges.edu/#/help

Contact Us Directly for Assistance

californiacolleges.edu/#/contact-us

Learn About the California College Guidance Initiative

cacollegeguidance.org

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Questions?

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Thank You!