KEEPING IT REAL California’s Great Exchange

In exchange for 450 hours of service, California College Corps participants, called Fellows, earn $10,000 – offering a meaningful leg up on educational expenses and debt reduction. (source: californiavolunteers.ca.gov).

For far too many Californians, particularly students of color from families earning low incomes, higher education is elusive. While students of color face a variety of systemic barriers to education, they face one common obstacle: tuition costs and student debt.

The State of California is making an effort to address this reality. Launched in 2022-23, College Corps is a statewide, paid service program that connects college students – including Dreamers – to employment opportunities in the priority areas of K-12 education, climate action, and food insecurity. In exchange for 450 hours of service, College Corps participants, called Fellows, earn $10,000 – offering a meaningful leg up on educational expenses and debt reduction. The state aims to reach 10,000 students through this program within its first four years, creating a generation of ‘civic-minded leaders’ to help build a more equitable California that works for everyone. For these students, their families, and

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