Building on the momentum and impact of 2025–26, UNITE-LA’s College Access team is expanding its focus in 2026–27 to reach more students and strengthen support for financial-aid completion and postsecondary transitions across L.A. County. Last year, the team reached 4,060 unduplicated students, 85 percent of whom were first-generation college students, through 119 Cash for College workshops and events, providing financial-aid awareness, hands-on FAFSA/CADAA assistance and scholarship guidance. This included a new partnership with Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) alternative education division, with three continuation schools supported through the partnership recently recognized by the state for having the most improved financial-aid completion rates.

This academic year, we are building on that work by expanding targeted outreach to 16 additional L.A. County districts with low financial aid completion rates, providing dedicated college-readiness modules for LAUSD’s continuation schools and piloting a foster youth mentoring program, pairing high school seniors with a college-going mentor for the year. Just three weeks into the school year, we are already coordinating college readiness and financial aid workshops with more than 50 new schools, demonstrating both the growing reach of this work and the strong demand for these supports. Schools and partners interested in connecting can reach us at [email protected].