Our inaugural CalKIDS College Campaign wrapped up at the end of May, and the results speak for themselves: 6,541 students claimed more than $3.8 million in CalKIDS scholarships across 32 UC, CSU, and community colleges.
Research shows children with college savings accounts are three times more likely to attend college and four times more likely to graduate than those without. CalKIDS – the state’s California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program – has been quietly building college savings for students since the 2021-22 school year. Public school students in grades 1-12 who are low-income, in foster care, and/or experiencing homelessness receive between $500 and $1,500, and they have until age 26 to use it. The catch? A lot of that money sits unclaimed simply because students don’t know it’s there.
“One of the most rewarding parts of this campaign was seeing campuses rally around a simple goal: helping students access scholarship funds already in their name,” said Christina Lomeli, Senior Project Manager at JBAY. “When trusted campus partners work together to reach students, we can turn missed opportunities into meaningful support for their educational journeys.”
Our campaign comes on the heels of another major win we fought hard for: last year’s state budget allocated $6.1 million to fund the expansion of Assembly Bill 2508, JBAY-sponsored legislation signed by Governor Newsom in September 2024. Starting in 2025-26, that expansion means all students in foster care in grades 1-12 receive a supplemental CalKIDS payment – not just those in first grade, as was previously the case. In other words, we didn’t just grow the pot of money waiting for students – we built the outreach infrastructure to make sure they actually claim it.
Led in partnership with the UCLA CalKIDS Institute and in collaboration with the ScholarShare Investment Board, which administers the program, the CalKIDS College Campaign focused on reaching students who are already on campus – no longer in K-12, but still very much eligible for funds waiting in their name.
Foster youth support programs across California’s colleges and universities spearheaded the outreach, and we turned it into friendly competition: campuses competed within their respective higher education systems and size categories, based on the percentage increase in CalKIDS scholarship disbursements they achieved. Here’s who came out on top:
- California Community Colleges: Santa Barbara City College, College of the Sequoias, and MiraCosta College
- California State University: Fresno State and CSU Channel Islands
- University of California: UC Santa Cruz
Congratulations to all six campuses – and to every program that rolled up its sleeves to make this campaign a success.
What made this work was partnership. Programs like Guardian Scholars and NextUp didn’t just spread the word to students with foster care experience; they teamed up with financial aid offices, outreach teams, student support programs, and peer ambassadors to reach low-income students and students experiencing homelessness too. That’s the model at its best: campus programs built for one population expanding their reach to serve everyone who’s eligible.
$3.8 million is real money finding its way into real students’ hands – money that can mean the difference between completing a semester or stopping short despite wanting to finish. And with more than 6,500 students newly connected to funds they didn’t know they had, this campaign proved that when campuses compete on behalf of their students, everybody wins.