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FAFSA and CADAA - Cash for College

CUHSD 1:1 Workshops for Families & Students
CUHSD hosts Cash for College and Financial Aid workshops with application support open to all district families. At the workshops families will receive one to one support from trained financial aid professionals to complete the FAFSA or CADAA. The 2025-2026 FAFSA application opens December 1, 2024.
2024-2025 FAFSA/CADAA for College Workshops
Branham Cash 4 College  Thur Jan 16 5:00 - 7:00 pm In person in CCC
Branham Cash 4 College  Wed Feb 5 5:00 - 7:00 pm In person in CCC
Westmont Financial Aid Night Wed Oct 16 6:00 - 8:00 pm Virtual - English & Spanish
Westmont Cash 4 College  Wed Feb 26 6:00 - 8:00 pm In Person in Academic Center - English & Spanish
Del Mar Financial Aid Night Wed Nov 20 5:30 - 6:30pm English In Person in Cafeteria
Del Mar Financial Aid Night Wed Nov 20 6:30 - 7:30 pm Spanish In Person in Cafeteria
Del Mar Cash 4 College  Wed Dec 11 4:30 - 7:30 pm In Person in Cafeteria
Del Mar Cash 4 College  Mon Feb 10 4:30 - 7:30 pm In Person in Cafeteria
Prospect Financial Aid Night Tues Dec 3 6:00 - 7:00 pm Zoom
Prospect Cash 4 College  Thur Feb 13 3:00-5:00 pm In person, location TBD, after school hours
CAL Grant 
The State of California seeks to expand access to financial aid to students and families who may otherwise not be aware of the opportunities. Continuing from last academic school year, all 12th grade students and their parents will need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) per the recently passed California AB 469.

Important reasons why you would want to complete the FAFSA/CADAA application by the  March 2025 deadline:
  •  March 2025, is the priority deadline for Cal Grant consideration
  • Receive priority for money for education, trade school, community college and/or college
  • FAFSA/CADAA may be required for college scholarship consideration
  • Receive financial aid offers from multiple schools before making a decision

Visit the Federal Student Aid Website
Visit the CADAA Website
Federal Student Aid Youtube Resources

Register as a Parent for the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) 
To register as a parent for the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), you can follow these steps:
  • Go to CaliforniaColleges.edu 
  • Click Register Your Account
    Select I am a Parent/Guardian from the dropdown menu
  • Enter your child's school district and school name
  • Enter your child's first and last name, student ID number, and date of birth
  • Click the checkbox to certify that you are a parent
  • Click Next to continue
  • You will be brought to the Family Dashboard
 
Your parent account will be linked to your child's account. You can add additional students to your account by clicking Add Another Student under My Students.

CaliforniaColleges.edu is a free platform for California 6th–12th grade students, their parents, and educators. It provides resources and tools to help students plan for college, careers, and financial aid. 
 
If you are having trouble registering, you can check that you entered your information correctly. If you are still having trouble, you can contact your school counselor.

Free Tutorials for FAFSA/CADAA

Californiacolleges.edu Offers Free Tutorials on Filling out the FAFSA/CADAA
All CUHSD students can access this platform through their Google Single Sign On
Visit californiacolleges.edu to get started

12 STEPS

1. Read the slide for more information.

Click the right arrow below the tutorial to advance to the next slide.

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2. Sign in to CaliforniaColleges.edu.

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3. Click the My Financial Aid Plan button to access the financial aid modules.

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4. Click on a module to bring up lessons to explore.

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5. Your modules will include To-Do lists for you to complete as you advance.

Click the yellow box under the Completed To Do's column to view your To-Do List.

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6. You can also access your To-Do List through the dropdown menu at the top of the page. Clicking Mark as Done checks off each item. Once all are done, the lesson is marked as Complete.

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7. Click the pages icon (📄) to explore resources related to each lesson.

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8. Click one of the links to navigate to a detailed guide on each topic.

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9. Click the X to close.

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10. Click on a lesson to open it.

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11. If you need to stop before completing a lesson, you can close it by clicking the X button at the top right of the slide. Your lesson will be marked as In Progress, but you will need to start from the beginning when you come back to it.

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12. When you finish all the slides in a lesson, click Complete Slides. Once the lesson is complete, future lessons will be unlocked.

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Here's an interactive tutorial

** Best experienced in Full Screen (click the icon in the top right corner before you begin) **

https://www.iorad.com/player/2185285/How-to-Use-the-Financial-Aid-Lessons-for-12th-Grade-Students?lang=en