The 2024-25 Race to
Submit is a statewide campaign that aims to increase the
number of financial aid applications for California high school
seniors who complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) and California Dream Act Application (CADAA). 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 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 late December for the
2024-25 application cycle and up until the April 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. The
Race to Submit Dashboard will continue to track FAFSA/CADAA
submissions through June 30 as part of the 2024-25 Race to Submit
Campaign. This benefits those students attending community
colleges or foster youth and have FAFSA/CADAA deadline
extensions.
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
CSAC Student Ambassador Program
Congratulations to our first cohort of Student Ambassadors from
El Camino Real Charter High School! A huge thank you to our first
Program Facilitator, Sylvia Yi, for recruiting and supporting the
Student Ambassadors. These students presented to their peers
about the importance of completing a financial aid application to
support the All In for FASFA/CA Dream Act initiative. If you are
interested in bringing the Student Ambassador program to your
campus, please complete the Program Facilitator interest form
here.
Financial Aid for All Symposium & Race to Submit Award Ceremony
2021
FEATURES
The Race to
Submit dashboard 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
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
Due to ongoing issues in 2024-25 with the FAFSA, this year’s Race
to Submit submissions will be tracked but not ranked. We hope to
renew the competitive spirit the following year! Click here
to learn more about the decision.
The leaderboard measures and ranks schools and districts based on
The percentage of completed
FAFSA/CADAAs matched to GPAs
The growth percentages from the
prior year for schools who achieve a minimum of 50 percent rate
for the current year
Traditionally, the Commission hosts an annual competition
celebrating the success of the most improved and top three
schools and districts from each level with the highest number in
FAFSA and CADAA and GPA completions for the given application
year submitted between late October through the March 2 Cal Grant
deadline. Once the March 2 competition has closed, the June 30
campaign will begin and continue to track submissions.