Caltech helps students get to college

This decade, according to a recent report from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 4.4 million qualified low-and moderate-income high school graduates will not attend a four-year college, and 2 million will not attend college at all. Caltech is partnering with area academic institutions and government leaders in a statewide initiative to help overcome this hurdle and get more California high school students into college.

Caltech’s director of financial aid, David Levy, has helped spearhead the College Goal Sunday kickoff and its local “Free Cash for College” workshops, aimed at helping eligible low-income, underrepresented students and their parents in filling out the necessary forms to receive Cal Grants, scholarships, work-study employment, and loans. By helping families navigate the complicated financial-aid process, the free statewide workshops will enhance students’ chances of attending college.

One of the campaign’s goals is to dispel the myth among many low-income families that college is not an affordable option. Under the historic Cal Grant Guarantee signed into law in 2000, any California student who meets grade point average, income, and asset requirements is eligible to receive money for college tuition, fees, books, and living expenses. All students need to do is fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Cal Grant GPA Verification forms and submit them by the March 3 deadline.

“I wanted to be sure that eligible California students were aware of the availability of financial aid, and specifically the Cal Grants, to help them realize their dreams of a postsecondary education,” said Levy.

He was instrumental in coordinating the College Goal Sunday campaign and workshops, assembling more than 600 colleagues from the California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators to participate. Together with Catherine Thomas, associate dean for admission and financial aid at USC, Levy designed the workshop financial-aid presentation and trained volunteers in
its implementation.

The Lumina Foundation for Education and the James Irvine Foundation are major sponsors of the California College Goal Sunday. Caltech is among the members of the steering committee convened by the governor’s secretary for education.

“Free Cash for College” workshops will be held throughout February at numerous Southern California high schools and colleges. For more information or locations, visit www.californiacolleges.edu/collegegoalsunday; call toll free (866) 476-8787; or e-mail Dan Bernal, statewide coordinator, at d.bernal@mindspring.com.
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