BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Students in Kern County can access crucial FAFSA workshops to maximize their financial aid opportunities ahead of the April 2nd deadline.
- FAFSA workshops in Kern County aim to assist students with financial aid applications.
- Gabriel Adame, president and CEO of Youth 2 Leaders, emphasizes the importance of these workshops for low-income students.
- Alessandra Morrision from CSAC highlights the significance of applying early for maximizing financial aid.
- California offers $3 billion in financial aid annually, benefiting around 850,000 students.
- Workshops scheduled for March 25, 2025, at multiple locations in Kern County.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Filling out a FAFSA application could get quite difficult at times. One local foundation is helping students with application workshops.
The Youth 2 Leaders Education Foundation, the California State Aid Commission, Cal-SOAP, and the K-16 Collaborative are working together to help the students of Kern County.
The Federal Student Financial Aid form, also known as FAFSA, is known to be difficult to fill out, and the goal of the Cash for College workshops is to give every student a chance at higher education.
Gabriel Adame, is the President and CEO of Y2L and he says, "Youth 2 Leaders has been around for around 20 years now, and we've been looking to help low-income, migrant, foster, youth students by hosting financial aid workshops, hosting our scholarship program, and other programs to ensure that students that might not have the knowledge of how to get into higher education have that access and that financial support."
Alessandra Morrison is the Associate Deputy Director for the California Student Aid Commission, and she says right now is the key time to apply for students to maximize their financial aid opportunities. She also says California is a great state for financial aid opportunities.
The California Student Aid Commission provides around 3 billion in financial aid, grants, and scholarships every year, and they serve around 850 thousand students. You can apply for these opportunities through FAFSA as well as the California Dream Act, which serves undocumented students.
"There are times that parents and families and students get a little tricked by certain questions and tax information, so we have a team of individuals who are ready to help, ready to clarify any questions, and they can help families decide what the best financial aid application is for them." Morrison said.
These workshops will be March 25th in four different locations in Kern County.
KCSOS City Centre 4PM-8PM
South High School 3:30PM-5:30PM
Arvin High School 4PM-6:30PM
University of La Verne 4PM-6:30PM
Adame tells me why the priority deadline is such a big priority. "It's very important because it is a priority deadline, so that means your application is going to be seen before those that are applying after the deadline. So, you can get your funding in sooner, so you can pay for your next semester next year at college." He said.
Y2L will say they will be holding more workshops in the summer. You can learn more about Y2L by visiting their website, youth2leaders.org.
California's priority deadline for state aid is April 2nd.
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