California Community Colleges Chancellor Urges Students to Renew DACA Status and Apply for the Mission Asset Fund $495 DACA Renewal Scholarship by September 29

September 27, 2017

Paige Marlatt Dorr

Office: 916.327.5356

Cell: 916.601.8005

Office E-mail: pdorr@cccco.edu

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakleyissued the following statement to urge students to renew their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status and apply for the DACA renewal scholarship before the September 29 deadline.

“The California Community Colleges system is thrilled with the announcement that the Mission Asset Fund’s DACA Renewal Scholarship Fund has tripled to $3,000,000—enough to help 6,000 Dreamers renew their DACA permits by the September 29 deadline. This vital additional funding will help our students cover the $495 renewal fee that comes at an important time as the deadline to renew DACA status is October 5 – one week before the deadline to apply for the scholarship. We encourage all of our eligible community college students to apply for the renewal scholarship this week before the two deadlines to ensure they continue to receive the education they deserve.

More than 5,000 scholarship applications have been submitted nationwide since the fund was created on September 13, with 900 coming from California community college students, making this the largest scholarship fund of its kind in the country.

We applaud the Mission Asset Fund for making additional scholarships available to our state’s DACA students. This assistance will provide the needed financial assistance for California Dreamers to file their renewal.”

Those interested in applying for the $495 scholarship opportunity should visit http://lc4daca.org to learn more and complete the online application. Scholarship applicants will need to complete a short questionnaire and provide their EAD card (work permit) with an expiration date of on or before March 5, 2018 to qualify for the financial aid. Scholarship applications will be processed the same day they are submitted and once a student has qualified, checks for $495 made out to the Department of Homeland Security will be made available the same day in the San Francisco area and by overnight mail in other parts of the state.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 114 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. Community colleges supply workforce training, basic skills education and prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions. The Chancellor’s Office provides leadership, advocacy and support under the direction of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. For more information about the community colleges, please visit our website.

The California Community Colleges “I Can Afford College” campaign is a statewide, financial aid awareness initiative sponsored by state of California. The purpose of the campaign is to educate current and prospective students about the year-round availability of financial aid at California’s 114 community colleges to pay for fees, books, supplies and sometimes even help with the rent. Since the campaign launched in April 2004, more than two million people have visited the icanaffordcollege.com website and the number of community college students receiving some type of financial aid has increased by 70 percent.

The DACA Renewal Scholarship is a dedicated fund established specifically to help California community college, California State University and University of California students pay for the $495 DACA renewal fee. It is funded by the Weingart Foundation and supported by Mission Asset Fund, the Irvine Foundation, Tipping Point Community, The Chavez Family Foundation and San Francisco Foundation.