How schools in San Diego County drove more students to apply for financial aid 

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As California seeks to leave fewer financial aid dollars on the table for high school graduates, schools in San Diego County are combining persistence with persuasion to get more students to apply for aid.

The results, so far, have been promising. The percentage of students in San Diego County who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form rose from 49% in 2019 to 65% in 2026, mirroring a statewide trend.

The effort has played out in different ways. Some educators have enticed students and families with food; others are using data to track students who have not completed FAFSA forms. The San Diego County Office of Education also launched in 2023 a campaign called “Race 2 Submit,” in which schools compete for the highest completion rate, with winning campuses receiving cash prizes and congratulatory banners.

Tanya Bulette, school counseling coordinator at the education office, said the county expanded training and tools to educate families about financial aid after California made completing financial aid forms a graduation requirement in 2022.

“The campaign unlocked something in our school teams to really understand that we don’t want to put up any kind of barrier for students to go to (college),” Bulette said. “And financial aid is the number one reason why our students do not elect to go.” 

Bulette said the county office created a dashboard that pulls completion data from the California Student Aid Commission, allowing counselors, teachers and students to monitor financial aid completion and CalGrant award rates at school and district levels. Counselors also use the California College Guidance Initiative portal, a tool launched in 2024 that tracks each students’ FAFSA completion status, to keep students on course with the March 2 deadline to qualify for a CalGrant. 

Those efforts can go a long way toward helping some of the county’s highest-need students. Jessica Ley Nuñez, a school counselor for the county education office, recalled how a full Pell Grant convinced a recent graduate of Monarch School, which serves unhoused students, to enroll in a community college.

The student, she said, faced pressure to prioritize working full time over continuing school. After many unsuccessful attempts to persuade him otherwise, she reviewed the financial aid forms he had filled out months ago. 

His eyes widened when he saw the Pell Grant figure, she said. They created a budget for his tuition, housing and meal plan at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. The budget left him with an extra $3,500. 

“He had a number to hang on to, and that one simple act helped him understand, ‘I wanted a job to be able to buy a laptop, but you’re telling me if I invest in my future higher education, that’s already there waiting for me,’” Ley Nuñez said. “Now he’s enrolled in community college.”

San Marcos Unified school counselors accept their Race 2 Submit award. Credit: SDCOE

At San Marcos Unified School District, 82% of 1,600 enrolled seniors completed their financial aid forms this year — the highest district completion rate in the county — up from 76% in 2025. Bulette said the district ramped up its persuasion strategies, like teacher and parent nights, a “free pie to apply” incentive for students and early counseling sessions about state and federal grants for underclassmen.

“There was at the beginning some fear from the staff of not wanting to feel like they were digging into personal finances,” Bulette said. With new training and partnerships, schools have better tailored parent outreach to their communities, she said. 

For example, Twin Oaks High School, a continuation school in San Marcos Unified serving at-risk students, increased its financial aid application completion by nearly 60% compared to last year. Lincoln High School, after partnering with the California Student Opportunity and Access Program to expand college counseling, increased its completion rate by 28% compared to last year. 

Palomar High School, which enrolls a large undocumented student population in Sweetwater Union High School District, also increased its financial aid form completion rate by nearly 60% compared to last year. The district partnered with Students Without Limits, a nonprofit that helps immigrant families with the California Dream Act Application, the state’s financial aid form for mixed-status households.

The campaign has also led to a direct jump in financial aid for students. At Carlsbad High School, 91 out of 343 students who completed forms received a CalGrant — a 43.8% increase compared to last year. Southwest High and Sweetwater High, both schools with historically low completion rates, had 75% and 65% of their seniors receive CalGrants, respectively, this year. 

Helping students ‘envision their future’

Monarch School had all seniors complete their financial aid forms. Ley Nuñez’s game plan for the Race to Submit competition begins years before a student becomes a senior, she said. She teaches ninth grade students about maintaining a good GPA, taking A-G college course prerequisites and career tracks at universities or trade schools. 

Monarch School counselor Jessica Ley Nuñez accepts a Race 2 Submit award. Credit: SDCOE

But at a school where many students try to survive on the streets or in shelters, a financial aid form is often not top of mind. 

So, Ley Nuñez said she first has to make sure that a student’s basic needs are met and connect them to food, housing and social services. If an unhoused student stops coming to school or is part of an off-site independent study program, Ley Nuñez drives 45 minutes across the county, sets up a laptop with her phone’s WiFi hotspot, and says, “Let’s get your FAFSA done.”

“Sometimes parents are the ones who are getting hard to get a hold of,” Ley Nuñez said. She said she leans on the school’s parent and family liaison to help address common obstacles like shelter or access to a computer. 

Data from Pew Research shows that the four-year window after high school — when students make decisions about college enrollment and affordability — largely determines the next few decades of economic mobility. 

Beyond the banner and the cash prize, for Ley Nuñez, the competition has always been about “making sure that all students access the funding they need to be able to follow their dreams after high school,” she said.