There are at least 40,000 California community college students with untouched scholarship money with their names on it — at least $500 each from CalKIDS, the California Kids Investment and Development Savings program. A partnership initiated last year will identify the students for colleges to connect with, according to a Thursday announcement from the governor’s office about the free scholarship money.

Launched in 2022, CalKIDS is a state initiative that automatically awards at least $500 to low-income students and English learners, providing the free scholarship money with the goal of helping families save for college or career training.

Even though the money is automatically deposited into an interest-bearing savings account under a student’s name, students or their families must claim the accounts by registering online.

Available to use right away, more than $20 million in unclaimed scholarship funds are waiting for the community college students until age 26.

The free scholarship money can help them cover the educational expenses of tuition, books, fees, computers and equipment required for attendance.

In May, CalKIDS first partnered with the California Cradle-to-Career Data System. CalKIDS recently solidified a data-sharing agreement with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office in February. The partnership with both entities identifies community college students with CalKIDS funds.

Knowing who has free scholarship money set aside in an account, community colleges can use the information for individualized outreach to make sure students are aware.

“This partnership reflects California’s commitment to ensuring that students can access the opportunities already available to them,” said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. “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.”

In early 2024, EdSource found that fewer than 8.3% of eligible families had claimed their account, despite fanfare surrounding the launch of the program for free scholarship money.

To expand its reach and create more awareness, CalKIDS changed its approach to marketing by targeting specific groups, including high school graduates and college students. Students told EdSource they didn’t learn about CalKIDS until their senior year of high school while visiting college campus open house events or as college freshmen while working with student support programs providing free scholarship money and other resources.

Read the full article about free scholarship money for California students by Lasherica Thornton at EdSource.