On Tuesday, January 26th, 2021, California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley held a teleconference from 2:30 – 3:30 where Oakley addressed the ongoing discussions of emergency student assistance, FAFSA and the Cal Grant period and resources, and plans for reopening and vaccinations for COVID.

“College students have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Economically through the loss of income of work.” – Eloy Ortiz Oakley.

According to Oakley, the federal government of California recently released a stimulus package of 290 million dollars to college students. These funds will be issued to college districts specifically, and they are available for students now.

On the other hand of the spectrum, Governor Newsom introduced a one-time investment of 250 million dollars in emergency student financial assistance. As of now, they are currently pushing for 150 million to be approved in July, which they are calling the “early action package”. Newsom is requesting that the early action package be open for students before the rest of the budget process. Currently, investments are being made into work-based learning, mental health resources, re-enrollment, online education infrastructure, and student retention.

Aid assistance such as FAFSA, Cal Grant, and California Dream Act are available for college students now, and according to statistics, the California Dream Act applications are down by 19 percent.

“This is especially concerning for our undocumented students. State aid is the only form of aid they are qualified to receive. They are not eligible to receive federal financial aid. California has made this opportunity available for them.” – Eloy Ortiz Oakley.

To all students at COS, the deadline for Cal Grant is March 2nd. Any questions about FAFSA, please report to the Cash for College workshop: www.csac.ca.gov/cash-college. For more information, report to https://www.csac.ca.gov/contact-us.

“We see the light at the end of this pandemic tunnel. The vaccine has arrived.” – Eloy Ortiz Oakley.

Throughout the rest of the semester, online education continues virtually except for courses that require instruction-in-person meetings such as labs. California Community Colleges are currently watching numbers to decide how they should reopen. Until then, instruction services, support, mental health resources, counseling, technical support, food pantry, tutoring are still and will still be available for all students.

For any more information on COVID-19 and reopening, please visit: covid19.ca.gov