Speaker 1: (00:00)
Governor Gavin Newsome and other state leaders launched a first of its kind program this month called the Californians for all college core to help low income students continue their college journey debt free. The program structure is simple. Selected students will receive $10,000 in tuition aid for one year of ongoing community service. Joining me for more details on this program is California volunteers, chief service officer Josh Friday. Josh, welcome to the
Speaker 2: (00:26)
Show. Thank you so much for having us. So Josh, tell
Speaker 1: (00:29)
Us a little bit more about how this program will work. Exactly.
Speaker 2: (00:33)
Well, this is, as you mentioned a historic program, and it's very exciting for the state of California and it's really quite simple, like the GI bill where we've held up generations of Americans go to school and pay for college through their service. We are saying to a new generation of Californians. If you are willing to serve your community, we're gonna help you pay for college with $10,000 towards your degree. And that $10,000 is, is critical, especially for low income students. That's the gap that Pell grant students have to come up with, uh, to pay for college every year. And they do that by either taking out loans, uh, and going into debt. And we know that student debt is, is crippling many of our young people across the country, uh, or they have to work. And so what we're doing is creating the opportunity for young people to basically pay for college, to serve in their community, to build job skills and job training, uh, along the way and make a real difference. And it's exciting for everyone.
Speaker 1: (01:26)
There's currently enough funding for 6,500 students statewide. So how will the program select which students are eligible for this college core
Speaker 2: (01:34)
Through a very competitive process we've picked 45 universities to work with. And what's exciting is this is a combination of UCS of CSU, state universities, community colleges, and some private schools. And the schools that are participating will be picking. The students will be selecting the students who apply. Uh, and we, uh, we expect that we're gonna have a lot of interest from students who wanna step up and serve their community
Speaker 1: (01:58)
Here in San Diego, UC San Diego, and the university of San Diego are part of the program made that cut of 45 colleges and universities. How did you go about selecting which 45 colleges was it strategic in terms of geography and demographics? We
Speaker 2: (02:13)
Wanted to make sure that the universities that were participating represented, uh, a diverse part of our state. So we have representation throughout all of California, uh, but we also wanted to find and work with schools who are committed to creating the next generation of civic-minded leaders of young people who are gonna graduate with a sense of civic responsibility, uh, with a sense of understanding, uh, how to give back and wanting to give back, uh, and were fortunate that like the schools in San Diego, many of the universities stepped up and wanted to be part of this new program
Speaker 1: (02:44)
And who exactly is eligible to join the core. I know in the past undocumented students have been locked out of similar programs like AmeriCorps, but that's not the case for this program. Can you tell us more?
Speaker 2: (02:54)
That's right. So this program is for undergraduate students at the universities to be able to do a year of service while they're in school and receive the $10,000 towards their education. And one of the things we're very proud of because of the commitment of governor Newsom and the legislature, is that we were able to include AB five 40 eligible dreamers into this program. And historically with national service programs like AmeriCorps, because they're federally funded and dreamers are excluded, and it's really important as we create this program that we make sure everyone's included, uh, and that includes our dreamer population. So we're, uh, excited to, to, uh, to jump off. And, uh, we think we're gonna have a lot of interest from a lot of different people of different backgrounds.
Speaker 1: (03:34)
So what are some of the service options that students will be able to do? And will the program them up with these opportunities?
Speaker 2: (03:41)
The students that are involved in this program are gonna be working on a variety of critical issues, everything from taking climate action to helping support our food banks and working on food insecurity to dealing with COVID 19 recovery, uh, and education. So we're gonna have people that are tutoring and mentoring in low income schools. The idea is, is that they're really focused on dealing with some of our biggest issues facing our state. Uh, and we're gonna be working with local governments and nonprofits to partner with the universities to make sure that we're placing these students in really meaningful service opportunities so that they can learn. But also that they give back in a very meaningful way,
Speaker 1: (04:16)
California sun overall 6.5% for up in undergraduate enrollment from fall 2020 to fall 2021. A lot of it was actually because people were choosing to work instead of go to community college. Do you think this program is gonna address this trend and kind of help motivate students stay in school or go back to school?
Speaker 2: (04:34)
It's one of our main targets. It's why we created this program to ensure that those who are able to Sue or are doing it while they're in school so that they can stay on track to graduate on time, uh, and making sure that they, they don't have to drop out because of the stresses of paying for school, uh, or other, uh, reasons. And it's, it's also why we really think that this program is a win, win, win. It's a win for students who are able to, uh, pay for school while gaining critical leadership skills and, and job training. It's a, it's a win for the universities because they are able to keep students on track, to graduate on time and reduces their financial strain. It's a win for the community who benefits from the service that's being performed by the, the college core fellows. But it's also a win for all society who benefits from a new generation of civic-minded leaders who are willing to actually come together in a time when we're incredibly divided across very different backgrounds, towards a common purpose. So we think for a variety of reasons, uh, this is gonna help everyone involved.
Speaker 1: (05:33)
So this program was just announced, what are next steps? When can students begin to apply? And when will we learn about this new cohort?
Speaker 2: (05:41)
The first cohort part of this historic program will begin in fall of 22. This coming year, and students can start to apply this spring with their university. So in San Diego, check in with the university of San Diego, uh, and UC San Diego to apply, apply to your school. And then we're gonna start to see thousands of young people across the state serving with the college core, this coming fall. I've
Speaker 1: (06:03)
Been speaking with California volunteers, chief service officer Josh Friday. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.
