Resource Library

For students who have experienced homelessness, applying for financial aid can be confusing and overwhelming. These resources for both students and professionals take the mystery out of applying for and maintaining financial aid. Included on this page is a comprehensive Financial Aid Guide, step-by-step visual guide to the FAFSA/CADAA, and an “After the FAFSA/CADAA” checklist.

This comprehensive guide for California Foster Youth and adult supporters begins with an explanation of different types of financial aid available, includes helpful tips to completing the FAFSA/CADAA, key steps on what to do after the FAFSA/CADAA to ensure maximum aid awards, and explains how to keep getting financial aid.

This is a treasure trove of videos highlighting the tools available on CaliforniaColleges.edu – explore and share them to maximize the impact of using CCGI.

College affordability is much more than just FAFSA/CADAA completion during senior year. Given your success in senior year, try adding in college affordability planning content starting as early as 6th grade to help reduce confusion and stress for students and their families during senior year. This step by step guide will help you get started.

This tool will help students write customized financial aid offer appeal letters based off of a variety of templates for special circumstances.

This handout outlines the additional steps a student must take over the summer months after paying their tuition deposit.

uAspire’s College Cost Calculator is a free online tool that helps students decipher and compare financial aid offers. Students can figure out how much they will have to pay, including estimates for indirect expenses and loan repayment, and compare costs between colleges easily. Students create an account and are able to access the information entered at any time.

This checklist helps organize students who have been selected for verification, which means that the colleges may ask for proof of information submitted on the FAFSA.

These checklists can be handed out or sent to Spanish-speaking families and students to explain completion of the CSS Profile which is an additional financial aid form that some colleges require in order for students to be eligible for institutional financial aid.

These checklists can be handed out or sent to English-speaking families and students to explain completion of the CSS Profile which is an additional financial aid form that some colleges require in order for students to be eligible for institutional financial aid.

This video explains how to access and download the FAFSA Submission Summary, which is the summary document of information entered on the FAFSA. It also includes important information such as the Student Aid Index (SAI), potential issues with your FAFSA, and potential required next steps.

This video explains how to add a college to the FAFSA after it has been submitted.

This video explains how to make corrections to the FAFSA after it has been submitted if a mistake was made or follow-up edits required.

This video explains how to use the IRS DRT on the FAFSA. It shows exactly how information should be entered in order to successfully transfer tax information from the IRS onto the FAFSA.

Wondering what information and documents are needed to gather to complete the FAFSA? This video reviews what information students and parents need to pull together in order to complete the FAFSA/CADAA.

Providing financial aid presentations to all students is a great place to start the conversation and to allow students to ask questions and learn about postsecondary pathways. These workshops can be done in the classroom for a smaller group setting or auditorium style for a larger group setting. This toolkit can help you get started.

Financial literacy is broad and critically important Everfi offers financial literacy lessons to teach students how to make wise financial decisions to promote financial well-being over their lifetime.

College affordability is much more than just FAFSA/CADAA completion during senior year. Given your success in senior year, try adding in college affordability planning content starting as early as 6th grade. Taking a developmental approach and starting these conversations early eliminates confusion and stress for students and their families during senior year.

This guide helps parents navigate the FAFSA.

A video that gives an overview of the FAFSA and the role it plays in the financial aid process to inform students and families on what they need to collect for FAFSA/CADAA prior to sitting down to work on the forms.

A resource to help communicate the tasks and timeline for financial aid for Spanish-speaking families. This checklist also includes a helpful timeline of all the steps in the financial aid process, which also serves as a critical reminder that there are many more steps beyond FAFSA/CADAA completion.

A resource to help communicate the tasks and timeline for financial aid for English-speaking families. This checklist also includes a helpful timeline of all the steps in the financial aid process, which also serves as a critical reminder that there are many more steps beyond FAFSA/CADAA completion.

This 15-month calendar from NCAN will help K-12 districts, schools, and the partners who work with them plan ahead and find the best resources to support their college and career readiness work for high school juniors and seniors. This is a great starting point to plan your engagement with students and their families.

Begin communicating with students’ families as early in their high school career as possible about postsecondary plans and the associated costs. Some ways in which you can go about this include family newsletters, family financial aid nights (with translators if possible) and offering one on one meetings with parents to focus solely on the college financial aid process.

Every action starts with a plan. Create a strategy to determine clear roles and responsibilities as well as implementation and monitoring of that plan.

This is a month-by-month checklist for Seniors that outlines the activities of HS Seniors and their parents to get the financial support for postsecondary. This tool may strengthen your existing planning work by making it more transparent to students and their families. How could this help your Seniors get and stay on track?

Postsecondary advising and support is an ongoing process. This 15-month comprehensive calendar will help you  plan ahead and find the best resources to support their college and career readiness work for your high school juniors and seniors. The calendar covers the academic year as well as the summers before and after it. How can this be embedded into your school calendar?

This document provides suggested outreach activities that can help you plan your communications to students and parents about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) process. It provides information on optimal timing, messaging objectives, target audiences, outreach activities, and resources.

A communication plan template that can help you kick start your effort to help everyone prioritize financial aid for all students.