By admin 
Every fall, I visit schools and hear students excitedly talking about their futures. Some dream of becoming nurses, engineers, teachers, entrepreneurs or skilled trades professionals. Their excitement is inspiring, but these conversations often lead to one important question: “How are we going to pay for it?”
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Fortunately, California families have more resources available to help make those dreams a reality.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) are essential gateways to grants, work-study opportunities and other financial aid. Helping eligible students complete these applications remains a critical responsibility for schools.
But financial aid planning shouldn’t end once an application is submitted. It should be the beginning of a broader conversation about every resource available to help students pay for college or career training.
As coordinator of college and career readiness for the Santa Ana Unified School District, I’ve learned that preparing students for life after high school is about much more than college applications or graduation requirements. It’s about ensuring every student understands the financial opportunities available to make their plans attainable.
The California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS) is one of the state’s most valuable resources for helping millions of students prepare and pay for college or career training. Eligible students and families can benefit by taking the simple step of claiming their CalKIDS scholarship.
Through CalKIDS, California has invested more than $2.4 billion to support more than 6 million children. Eligible public school students in grades 2 through 12 may have up to $1,500 available to help pay for college or career training. These scholarships can be used alongside grants, scholarships and other financial aid, making higher education more affordable.
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I’ve spoken with parents who thought they had explored every financial aid option, only to discover they were eligible for a CalKIDS Scholarship. Their response is almost always the same: “I wish we had known about this sooner.”
In Santa Ana Unified, we’ve intentionally embedded CalKIDS into our comprehensive college and career readiness strategy rather than treating it as a separate initiative. Our counselors introduce the program during classroom lessons, financial aid workshops, family engagement events and individual advising appointments. Using the California Student Aid Commission’s WebGrants for Institutions, they identify eligible students, conduct targeted outreach and connect families with their CalKIDS Scholarship.
California continues to recognize the importance of this work by requiring schools to include CalKIDS information as part of FAFSA and CADAA outreach. This reinforces what school counselors have long understood: Students make better decisions when they receive complete information about college affordability resources.
Every district can build CalKIDS into work already happening through back-to-school events, college and career fairs, parent workshops and individual student planning meetings, increasing awareness without creating new programs.
California has already made the investment. Now, we have an opportunity to ensure every eligible student benefits from it. As students return to school this fall, I encourage families to ask their school counselor about CalKIDS, complete the FAFSA or CADAA when eligible and take a few minutes to check their eligibility.
Rebecca Pianta is the coordinator of college and career readiness at Santa Ana Unified School District, where she leads the districtwide school counseling program and college and career readiness initiatives.
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