California College Guidance Initiative
Palo Alto Unified School District has established a partnership with the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) to help your child develop a well-informed college and career plan. CCGI is a statewide nonprofit organization that works with school districts throughout California to accomplish two main goals:
- All California high school seniors graduate with clear post-secondary goals and a plan to achieve them.
- Academic transcript data follows students as they progress through educational systems to reduce areas of missing information that could otherwise hinder their success.
As part of this effort, CCGI administers the state of California's college and career planning platform, CaliforniaColleges.edu. This online platform offers students, families, and educators a single access point for college and career readiness, college applications, tools, and information to help plan for the future after high school. We will use CaliforniaColleges.edu and Naviance as complementary platforms.
As a CCGI partner, PAUSD students have access to exclusive tools and resources to support their college and career planning. These tools and resources are only provided when transcript data is uploaded from Infinite Campus (IC) to CaliforniaColleges.edu in accordance with all state and federal student privacy laws.
Benefits to students include:
- Access to California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) eligibility tools to monitor progress toward meeting "a-g" course requirements. This will help your child know if they are taking the right courses in high school to meet their goals after graduation.
- Ability to keep track of application deadlines and submissions.
- Apply to a UC, CSU, or California Community College directly from CaliforniaColleges.edu.
The district's partnership with CCGI allows key information from the transcript to be transferred from your student's account to these applications, making the entire process faster and easier. It also allows your student's verified course information to be shared directly with community colleges and CSUs, helping those colleges make better decisions sooner in three areas; college admission, placement, and financial aid. Students can also launch and track their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Applications (CADAA) from their account, which can make the Cal-Grant eligibility determination process easier.