FREE MONEY FOR COLLEGE: New effort connects California community college students with available CalKIDS scholarships

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Mar 5, 2026

FREE MONEY FOR COLLEGE: New effort connects California community college students with available CalKIDS scholarships

Coordinated effort found 40,000 community college students with more than $20 million in available scholarships

What you need to know: Before Trump Accounts, Governor Newsom launched CalKIDS, free college scholarship funds for every child. Today, the state is announcing a new effort to connect California students to these existing scholarship funds available to claim and use for community college degrees and programs.

SACRAMENTO – Affordability is one of the core tenets of California's public higher education system, including two years of free community college for eligible students. Now California is making it easier for community college students to claim money already set aside for their future, helping them with funds to cover educational expenses like books, laptops, and other supplies.

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced a partnership between CalKIDS, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, and the California Cradle-to-Career Data System to identify eligible community college students and connect them with CalKIDS Scholarships — part of the state's program providing free college scholarship funds for every child, years before Trump Accounts.

Through this partnership, state education leaders are leveraging existing systems to help community colleges connect eligible students to their CalKIDS Scholarships. The coordinated effort already identified 40,000 community college students with over $20 million in available scholarships.

"Through CalKIDS, we created free college scholarship funds for millions of children in the state. This new partnership will connect more community college students with the scholarships already set aside for them. California is making it easy and affordable for students to access their college and career dreams."

Governor Gavin Newsom

CalKIDS, administered by the ScholarShare Investment Board and chaired by State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA, is a statewide automatic scholarship program created to expand access to college and career training. Eligible California public school students automatically receive up to $1,500 in CalKIDS Scholarships and must claim their account in order to use the funds for qualified educational expenses until age 26.

Students can visit CalKIDS.org to confirm eligibility and claim their scholarship.

"This partnership reflects California's commitment to ensuring that students can access the opportunities already available to them," said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA. "Through CalKIDS, we are investing in students long before they arrive on a college campus, and this effort helps ensure those scholarships are actually reaching the students who need them most."

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Since CalKIDS launched in 2022, the program has supported nearly 70,000 students with more than $37 million for expenses at community colleges across the state.

As part of the initiative, CalKIDS participant information is securely matched through the California Cradle-to-Career Data System, which has an existing data-sharing arrangement with the Chancellor's Office. The matched eligibility report is now available to authorized college staff through their Data on Demand platform.

Community college districts can use this information to conduct individualized outreach to enrolled students who have available CalKIDS Scholarships, ensuring students are aware of funds that can immediately support their educational goals.

"This collaboration demonstrates the power of connected systems, with Californians at the heart of our shared goals," said Mary Ann Bates, Executive Director of the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. "This joint initiative is government efficiency and effectiveness in practice, and the California Cradle-to-Career Data System is eager to continue delivering actionable insights that can directly benefit students in their higher education journeys."

The California Community College system serves more than 2.2 million students annually and plays a central role in advancing economic mobility across the state. By integrating CalKIDS Scholarship data into existing student support systems, campuses can further strengthen affordability efforts and student persistence.

"Imagine what $1,500 from CalKIDS can mean for a first-generation community college student juggling two part-time jobs," said California Community Colleges Chancellor, Sonya Christian. "It can be the difference between stopping out and staying enrolled. That is why the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office has partnered with the Cradle-to-Career Data System and State Treasurer Fiona Ma. Together, we are building the systems that deliver on this promise. This is what Vision 2030 is about: strong partnerships and modern data systems that ensure every student, in every community, can access the opportunity they have already earned."

Community college districts are encouraged to use the Data on Demand platform to identify enrolled students with CalKIDS Scholarship indicators and conduct targeted outreach through existing campus communications and student support channels.

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