Removing road blocks
Removing road blocks
Cherry Dominguez sees it happen every year.
As guidance technician for the Career Center at East Bakersfield High School, one of Dominguez’s roles is to assist students seeking financial aid for college.
She shared with MÁS a typical story of a graduating Hispanic girl who has excellent grades and wants to go to college. Unfortunately for the girl, her family — a “very shy, traditional Hispanic family” as Dominguez puts it — says they don’t have the money to send their daughter to college.
Dominguez instructs the student to bring her parents in.
“The family sits down at the computer and I say to the father, ‘This is your daughter — she has done the best any student can do and she can be accepted to top universities,’” says Dominguez. “The parents say ‘No, we have no money,’ and I tell them, ‘I can get you money.’”
Situations like this are a recurring theme for Dominguez, witnessing Hispanic students and their families who are completely unaware of their qualifications for college financial aid.
But she isn’t the only one who sees the need for greater financial aid awareness among the Latino community.
A recent Tomás Rivera Policy Institute survey on the perceptions of college financial aid among California Latino youth concluded that there were misconceptions in the Hispanic community about the affordability of college as well as insufficient Spanish-language translation of financial aid information.
Financial aid generally means any type of money, whether it be loans, grants, scholarships or work study programs that helps a college student pay for tuition, living expenses or any college-related expense. Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, disperses more than $80 billion to 14 million students annually, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
To qualify for federal student aid, a student must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is turned into the student’s school, where a financial aid officer determines the student’s need and awards.
Frank Ramirez, the Southern Region Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator for UC Merced’s Bakersfield Center, says he also sees misconceptions amongst Hispanics about financial aid.
“Some students believe they do not qualify because of their parents’ income, they don’t know about the FAFSA or how it works. And undocumented students don’t know that they can go to college and receive financial aid,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez says there are a number of financial aid opportunities that students sometimes don’t know about, such as scholarships, grants and even student loans. He says that it is paramount for students, especially graduating high school students, to become familiar with the FAFSA as early as possible and fill out the form before the March 2 deadline. He also says students in high school need to become aware of specific scholarships that universities offer, like the Hispanic Excellence Scholarship at CSUB that is awarded to 70 students annually.
“They should think about it their freshman year (in high school). That way they can build up resources based on needs of scholarships and it gives them time, If the scholarship asks for community service, they have time to get involved,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez also points out that since 2002, California’s Assembly Bill 540 allows qualifying immigrant students to pay in-state tuition and receive scholarships, making college more affordable. He also says that federal student loans, which are also awarded through the FAFSA, are a good option for students seeking financial assistance who might not qualify for a grant or scholarships.
Ramirez says that federal student loans have better percentage rates than private loans, and the payment plans are very flexible. In some cases there are programs that can defer some student loans, such as the CSU APL program, which can help a student who gets a teaching job in California pay up to $19,000 of their loans.
“It is their decision to get a loan, but if they don’t have the resources to go to school, there should be no excuses,” Ramirez says. “The best investment you can ever make is in yourself and your education. The value is 100 times in return.”
Because of the challenges that students and their families might face when applying for financial aid, Ramirez himself admits the FAFSA can be a difficult document to fill out, the Financial Aid Office at CSUB does offer outreach services to students and parents at Bakersfield College, Taft High School as well as attending Cash for College workshops at local high schools designed to give students another service to complete their FAFSA.
CSUB is also home to the Educational Talent Search Program, a federally-funded, bilingual outreach service to sixth- through12th-grade students who are of low income status, first-generation college students or children of veterans seeking financial assistance to college.
The Educational Talent Search Program assists students in academic advising, tutoring, financial aid application workshops and career advising. The program specifically targets students at Arvin, Bakersfield, East, Foothill, Highland, Shafter, South and West high schools as well as students at Compton, Emerson, Sierra and Stiern middle schools.
Jesse Quintanilla, director of Educational Talent Search Program at CSUB, says they target these school specifically because they are home to a large number of low income, minority students. He says that the term “low income” means a student whose family is within 150 percent of the low income guidelines based on family size.
For example, Quintanilla says that a family of four can be considered low income if their taxable income for a year is not more than $30, 975. A family’s income is important for assessing a students Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, the measuring stick in which universities use determine a student’s need.
“I’ve had families with 5 kids who make $20,000 a year saying ‘I hope I qualify,” said Quintanilla.
Most of the personnel for the Education Talent Search Program are Spanish speakers as well as first- or second-generation immigrants, according to Quintanilla. He says that because of this, his staff has personal reasons for wanting to help students who think they don’t have opportunities, succeed.
“We want to take the invisible veil off their face, so they can see the opportunities they have,” says Quintanilla. “The barriers are the same now for students that they were when I was going to school, but now there are more services to help break through those barriers.”
Like Dominguez, Ramirez and Quintanilla work hard to eliminate what they see as the biggest barrier facing students seeking financial aid today — the lack of information or understanding students and their parents have regarding financial aid.
This is why Dominguez makes sure the Career Center at East Bakersfield High School is open during lunch and throughout the school day. She keeps the Career Center full of scholarship information, college handbooks and directories, FAFSA forms in both English and Spanish so that students, such as 16-year-old EBHS junior, Steven Renteria, can be as informed as possible about the financial assistance available to them.
“She (Dominguez) told us not to worry about money because there is always money out there,” said Renteria.
Dominguez made it her personal goal this past school year to go to every government and economics class, both required senior courses, handing every students a FAFSA and making sure they knew how to fill it out.
“There is nothing blocking a student from investing in their future. Money is not an issue, language is not an issue — nothing,” said Dominguez.
As guidance technician for the Career Center at East Bakersfield High School, one of Dominguez’s roles is to assist students seeking financial aid for college.
She shared with MÁS a typical story of a graduating Hispanic girl who has excellent grades and wants to go to college. Unfortunately for the girl, her family — a “very shy, traditional Hispanic family” as Dominguez puts it — says they don’t have the money to send their daughter to college.
Dominguez instructs the student to bring her parents in.
“The family sits down at the computer and I say to the father, ‘This is your daughter — she has done the best any student can do and she can be accepted to top universities,’” says Dominguez. “The parents say ‘No, we have no money,’ and I tell them, ‘I can get you money.’”
Situations like this are a recurring theme for Dominguez, witnessing Hispanic students and their families who are completely unaware of their qualifications for college financial aid.
But she isn’t the only one who sees the need for greater financial aid awareness among the Latino community.
A recent Tomás Rivera Policy Institute survey on the perceptions of college financial aid among California Latino youth concluded that there were misconceptions in the Hispanic community about the affordability of college as well as insufficient Spanish-language translation of financial aid information.
Financial aid generally means any type of money, whether it be loans, grants, scholarships or work study programs that helps a college student pay for tuition, living expenses or any college-related expense. Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, disperses more than $80 billion to 14 million students annually, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
To qualify for federal student aid, a student must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which is turned into the student’s school, where a financial aid officer determines the student’s need and awards.
Frank Ramirez, the Southern Region Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator for UC Merced’s Bakersfield Center, says he also sees misconceptions amongst Hispanics about financial aid.
“Some students believe they do not qualify because of their parents’ income, they don’t know about the FAFSA or how it works. And undocumented students don’t know that they can go to college and receive financial aid,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez says there are a number of financial aid opportunities that students sometimes don’t know about, such as scholarships, grants and even student loans. He says that it is paramount for students, especially graduating high school students, to become familiar with the FAFSA as early as possible and fill out the form before the March 2 deadline. He also says students in high school need to become aware of specific scholarships that universities offer, like the Hispanic Excellence Scholarship at CSUB that is awarded to 70 students annually.
“They should think about it their freshman year (in high school). That way they can build up resources based on needs of scholarships and it gives them time, If the scholarship asks for community service, they have time to get involved,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez also points out that since 2002, California’s Assembly Bill 540 allows qualifying immigrant students to pay in-state tuition and receive scholarships, making college more affordable. He also says that federal student loans, which are also awarded through the FAFSA, are a good option for students seeking financial assistance who might not qualify for a grant or scholarships.
Ramirez says that federal student loans have better percentage rates than private loans, and the payment plans are very flexible. In some cases there are programs that can defer some student loans, such as the CSU APL program, which can help a student who gets a teaching job in California pay up to $19,000 of their loans.
“It is their decision to get a loan, but if they don’t have the resources to go to school, there should be no excuses,” Ramirez says. “The best investment you can ever make is in yourself and your education. The value is 100 times in return.”
Because of the challenges that students and their families might face when applying for financial aid, Ramirez himself admits the FAFSA can be a difficult document to fill out, the Financial Aid Office at CSUB does offer outreach services to students and parents at Bakersfield College, Taft High School as well as attending Cash for College workshops at local high schools designed to give students another service to complete their FAFSA.
CSUB is also home to the Educational Talent Search Program, a federally-funded, bilingual outreach service to sixth- through12th-grade students who are of low income status, first-generation college students or children of veterans seeking financial assistance to college.
The Educational Talent Search Program assists students in academic advising, tutoring, financial aid application workshops and career advising. The program specifically targets students at Arvin, Bakersfield, East, Foothill, Highland, Shafter, South and West high schools as well as students at Compton, Emerson, Sierra and Stiern middle schools.
Jesse Quintanilla, director of Educational Talent Search Program at CSUB, says they target these school specifically because they are home to a large number of low income, minority students. He says that the term “low income” means a student whose family is within 150 percent of the low income guidelines based on family size.
For example, Quintanilla says that a family of four can be considered low income if their taxable income for a year is not more than $30, 975. A family’s income is important for assessing a students Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, the measuring stick in which universities use determine a student’s need.
“I’ve had families with 5 kids who make $20,000 a year saying ‘I hope I qualify,” said Quintanilla.
Most of the personnel for the Education Talent Search Program are Spanish speakers as well as first- or second-generation immigrants, according to Quintanilla. He says that because of this, his staff has personal reasons for wanting to help students who think they don’t have opportunities, succeed.
“We want to take the invisible veil off their face, so they can see the opportunities they have,” says Quintanilla. “The barriers are the same now for students that they were when I was going to school, but now there are more services to help break through those barriers.”
Like Dominguez, Ramirez and Quintanilla work hard to eliminate what they see as the biggest barrier facing students seeking financial aid today — the lack of information or understanding students and their parents have regarding financial aid.
This is why Dominguez makes sure the Career Center at East Bakersfield High School is open during lunch and throughout the school day. She keeps the Career Center full of scholarship information, college handbooks and directories, FAFSA forms in both English and Spanish so that students, such as 16-year-old EBHS junior, Steven Renteria, can be as informed as possible about the financial assistance available to them.
“She (Dominguez) told us not to worry about money because there is always money out there,” said Renteria.
Dominguez made it her personal goal this past school year to go to every government and economics class, both required senior courses, handing every students a FAFSA and making sure they knew how to fill it out.
“There is nothing blocking a student from investing in their future. Money is not an issue, language is not an issue — nothing,” said Dominguez.
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