Half of qualifying San Diegans enrolled in second grade through their third year of college across the county have not claimed their scholarship money. District leaders said many of them don’t know there’s money set aside waiting for them. CalKIDS launched its scholarship initiative during th e pandemic to make college more accessible. Cassandra DiBenedetto, ScholarShare Investment Board Executive Director, said income-qualified students can receive between $500 to 1,500. Income requirements vary, with students who are English language learners, foster youth or homeless youth getting the biggest allotments. “This is for books, tuition, housing, anything that is related to scholarship or school expenses,” Dibenedetto said. Oceanside senior, Gladys Pena, will use her scholarship for EMT training at Palomar College. Her classmate, Ruby Rivas, is taking her money to California State University, Chico. “I’ve been trying to work, trying to get the money to save up for it, but this has been so helpful to me,” Rivas said. The money can be used at accredited colleges, universities, trade schools, apprenticeships and career training programs. Applicants just need to provide their birthday, student state ID and the county the student was enrolled in during the applicable academic year. Once enrolled in a qualified college or career training program, students can request the money be sent to their school. There is no deadline to claim this money. Anytime a student applies for FAFSA OR CADAA, the system will alert that there is CalKIDS money available to be claimed. In the past six months, 100,000 students across California have claimed their scholarships. ...read more read less