Cal Grant Success Dashboard

Welcome to the 2020-21 Race to Submit Dashboard

Loading Race to Submit Dashboard

High School Senior Enrollment*:
Application Year

days until Cal Grant March 2 deadline

FAFSA/CA Dream Act
Applications
% of Enrollment

Submitted:

Completed:

FAFSA/CA Dream Act Applications

High School Seniors

Completed Applications
& Cal Grant Awards

Completed: with GPA

Awarded:

FAFSA/CA Dream Act + GPA

High School Seniors

FAFSA/CA Dream Act Applications

FAFSA/CA Dream Act + GPA

Select School Level:

High School	High School Enrollment *	2019 - 20 FAFSA/CA Dream Act + GPA Completed
High School	High School Enrollment *	Count	Percent

School	High School Enrollment *	FAFSA/CA Dream Act Applications				FAFSA/CA Dream Act + GPA
		Submitted		Completed		Submitted		Completed		Awarded
		Count	Percent	Count	Percent	Count	Percent	Count	Percent	Count	Percent

* - The Race to Submit Dashboard uses the California Department of Education’s certified census senior enrollment data. The Dashboard for Class of 2020 will be refreshed with the certified data after the March 2nd deadline.

California Public High Schools

High schools include public, continuation and alternative schools. Private and adult education schools are not included.

High School Senior Enrollment

High schools include public, continuation and alternative schools. Private and adult education schools are not included.

Application Year

Each high school senior applies for financial aid for the following college year. For example, Class of students apply for college year financial aid.

Last Updated Date

CSAC receives all federal and state applications for California aid applicants. Once the application progress period begins, the Race to Submit Dashboard is refreshed on a weekly basis with new applications and awards. Final application and award data is presented annually in the fall.

FAFSA/Dream Act Applications

Submitted

Either application submitted to the California Student Aid Commission by California high school senior class.

Completed

Either application submitted to CSAC that is complete, meaning it can be processed for financial aid.

Application Total

All Application totals represent only California high school senior class applications, a portion of all applications received by the California Student Aid Commission.

FAFSA/CA Dream Act + GPA

Submitted

A submitted FAFSA does not have an EFC because it has not been completed and needs info to determine the EFC.

Completed

A completed FAFSA has an EFC and can be used to determine Cal Grant eligibility if the GPA is matched.

Cal Grant Award Offers

Number or percentage of California high school seniors who were offered a Cal Grant award.

The early FAFSA initiative was implemented by the United States Department of Education (US DOE) as a way to simplify and improve the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process. Fall 2016 marked the first time the FAFSA and the California Dream Act Application (CADAA) were available starting October 1. Along with an earlier FAFSA and CADAA timeline, students were allowed to use prior-prior year tax information. This early financial aid initiative helped improve college choice and access to financial aid. In our 4th year of Early FAFSA and CADAA submission, the California Student Aid Commission has collaborated with the California Department of Education and K-12 communities to launch the Race to Submit.

RACE TO SUBMIT

The Race to Submit is a statewide campaign that aims to increase the number of financial aid applications (FAFSAs / CADAAs) for California high school seniors. Filling out these financial aid applications is the first step towards college success and helps students qualify for federal and state aid to help pay for college. These efforts were modeled after the successful 2017-18 FAFSA and CADAA Completion Initiative in Riverside.

The Race to Submit encourages all California high schools and districts to view and track their FAFSA and CADAA completion number. The online tool helps measure the number of submitted and completed applications. This initiative aims to motivate California high schools and districts to increase application count by supporting their students with FAFSA and CADAA submission.

During the application period, beginning October 1 and up until the March 2 Cal Grant deadline, each high school, district, and county can use the Race to Submit to gauge the submission and completion of the FAFSA and CADAA, along with how many Cal Grants have been awarded to their students.

The Race to Submit provides progress updates of the following data by high school, school district and county on a weekly basis:

FAFSA/CADAA completion and submission rates
Number of Cal Grant applications submitted and completed
Number of students eligible for Cal Grants
Number of Cal Grant awards

FEATURES

This Race to Submit Resource Guide provides a summary of the Race to Submit initiative, Dashboard features, FAFSA/CADAA strategies and general financial aid resources. Click on the link below to access the Race to Submit Resource Guide.

Download Race to Submit Resource Guide

Create your own reports using the following features to customize your own tables and graphs.

Search

Use our interactive search field with auto-completion to search for schools, school districts, and/or counties.

Export

Download data for all schools, school districts, and counties in CSV format.

Glossary

See a list of commonly used terms.

Comparison

Add up to 5 schools, school districts, and/or counties to view a comparison set.

View All

See a listing of all schools, school districts, or counties.

LEADERBOARD

This year, the 2020-21 Leaderboard ranks schools based on their percentage of completed FAFSA/CADAAs and matching GPAs that are needed for Cal Grant award consideration. The Race to Submit will celebrate the progress and success of all schools and districts that make significant strides in FAFSA and CADAA completion after the March 2, 2020 deadline.

JOIN THE RACE TO SUBMIT

Are you interested in supporting the Race to Submit? Starting October 1 through the March 2 Cal Grant deadline, students and families can attend FREE Cash for College workshops across California to receive assistance completing the FAFSA or CADAA and Chafee Grant for Foster Youth applications.

Click here to view the Statewide 2019 Race to Submit Winners

Please visit our Cash-for-College website for more information at:
https://www.cash4college.csac.ca.gov

What is considered a California Public High School?

A California Public High schools includes public, continuation and alternative schools. Private and adult education schools are not included in reporting.

How does my school or district join the race?

All public high schools and districts are automatically included in the race and separated by the size of the senior class.

If your school is not listed, the Commission can manually add your school as long as the following parameters are met:

Is your school a public/charter school?
Is your school serving 12th graders?

If YES to both questions, schools can email their request to SchoolSupport@csac.ca.gov to be added to the dashboard. Please include the following information in your request:

School name
College Board Code (CEEB code)
CDS Code
Senior enrollment count as reported to CDE for the current academic year

Are privates and adults schools counted in the High School Senior Enrollment?

High schools senior enrollment includes public, continuation and alternative schools. Private and adult education schools are not included as part of the total enrollment.

What is the source of data?

The source of the data is the California Department of Education (CDE) certified enrollment numbers compared to the total completed FAFSAs (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and CADAAs (California Dream Act Application).

My school’s enrollment numbers are different than the current enrollment numbers?

For the Race to Submit Dashboard, the Commission uses the California Department of Education’s (CDE) certified Class of 2019 census senior enrollment data. Enrollment numbers are established by the CDE. The Commission will update the Dashboard when the Class of 2020 certified data becomes available. Please note that changes in enrollment may not reflect present real-time enrollment.

How often will submission data be updated?

Application submission data is updated from October through March of the following year, it is refreshed on a weekly basis with new applications and awards. Final application and award data is presented annually in the fall.

What is the difference between a submitted and a completed application form?

A submitted FAFSA does not have an EFC because it has not been completed and needs info to determine the EFC.
A completed FAFSA has an EFC and can be used to determine Cal Grant eligibility if the GPA is matched.

What years of FAFSA and CADAA submission and completion data are available?

The Race to Submit displays two academic year cycles to provide a side-by-side comparison. Each cycle data will have the same date in prior year from the previous cycle.

Why are the application totals different than the FAFSA completion rates on the Federal Student Aid Website?

The Race to Submit uses both FAFSA and CADAA to measure application totals, while the Federal Student Aid only uses FAFSA for completion totals.

Why is my number of FAFSA and CADAA submissions or completions lower than I think it should be?

These are several reason for lower competition rates, including:

Your school may be listed in different ways on the financial aid form or
When applying for financial aid your student may have incorrectly inputted your school name. This happens if students entered your school name in different ways on the financial aid form.

My school submitted high number of FAFSA and CADAA. Why are my completion rates much lower?

Great Job! A Cal Grant award is made by either a FAFSA or CADAA that has been submitted to the California Student Aid Commission by the March 2nd deadline with a school-verified Cal Grant Grade Point Averages (GPAs). If your student has both submitted they are then processed in an Entitlement or Competitive eligibility pool based on scoring matrix that will determine eligibility. Even if your student does not receive a Cal Grant they will have access to information on other types of state and institutional aid.

Can I view or compare California statewide totals?

Yes. Search for California Public High Schools and add to compare to view or compare.

How can I view the student level data as a counselor or administrator?

Please contact the designated System Administrator at your campus or district. They can create a WebGrants profile for you. If you do not know or have a System Administrator, please contact the California Student Aid Commission at 1-888-294-0148. With a WebGrants account, you can download student specific reports.

How can I keep track the number of applications my school, district, county and/or state submits?

You can export the all Public California High School report by clicking on the Export button located at the right tab area. This can be a tool to track the number applications and help set goals for your school, district or county!

I am a high school counselor or a college career educator. What resources do you have to help increase FAFSA and CADAA completion totals?

The California Student Aid Commission has several resources to provide counselor and educators with financial aid information at http://www.csac.ca.gov under the High School tab. Here you can find outreach materials and training opportunities to better inform your students about the various types of financial aid applications and opportunities.

Starting October 1 through the March 2 Cal Grant deadline, students and families can attend FREE Cash for College workshops across California for help completing the Free Application for FAFSA or CADAA and Chafee Grant for Foster Youth applications. Specifically, if you are interested in hosting or promoting a Cash-4-College event please visit https://www.cash4college.csac.ca.gov. Here you can search for workshops by location, zip code, school name and county.