The Ed Fund is once again partnering with the West Contra Costa Unified School District to carry out a district-wide campaign to increase completion of applications for public aid to support students going to college. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary application that students complete in order to be eligible to receive financial aid for college. Knowing that many students never get the opportunity to attend college because their families believe they can’t afford the tuition, our goal is to ensure that all students in the district have the opportunity to complete the FAFSA or the California Dream Application (for undocumented students). Studies indicate that increasing financial aid completion can result in increased college-going rates. Further, low-income California students have been missing out on hundreds of millions of student aid dollars.
In 2012, 33% of district students completed the FAFSA by the March 2nd priority deadline. In 2016, sixty-seven percent of district seniors completed their FAFSA or California Dream Application by the priority deadline. This is the highest completion rate the district has achieved. WCCUSD leads Contra Costa County in financial aid completion.
We invite all high school seniors and their parents to attend one of six Cash for College Nights in the district. Cash for College Nights for the 2017-2018 school year are:
October 26: Kennedy High School
November 7: El Cerrito High School
November 8: De Anza High School
November 14: Hercules High School
November 16: Richmond High School
January 25: Pinole High School
