CCGI (California College Guidance Initiative)

CCGI

The California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) works to ensure that all 6th-12th grade students in California have access to a systematic baseline of guidance and support as they plan, prepare, and pay for post-secondary education and training.

• All high school seniors graduate with a thoughtful, well-informed, post-secondary plan
• Students' academic transcripts, unique identifiers, and college and career planning data follow them in a manner that reduces information gaps that hinder student success.

The Whittier Union High School District, in partnership with California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), uses www.CaliforniaColleges.edu for early college and career planning. We invite you and your student to use this website as a key resource to plan for life after high school.

What is CCGI?

CaliforniaColleges.edu is an interactive website designed to help your child plan and prepare for college and career.

When signed in, students can:

• Complete grade-level appropriate activities designed to guide him or her toward a college and career plan that matches his or her goals and interests.
• Find and favorite careers, colleges, and majors.
• Plan high school courses and track progress toward completion of “a-g” course requirements, as well as CSU and UC eligibility.
• Apply to colleges and track submissions.
• Launch the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or California Dream Act Application (CADAA).
• Store resumes, college application essays, and other important documents.

When signed in, parents can:

• View their child’s activity on CaliforniaColleges.edu and monitor their child’s progress.
• Learn valuable information to support their child through the career exploration, college and financial aid planning, and application processes.

Create a Parent Account

College, career, and financial aid planning can be complicated, and you probably have a lot of questions. CaliforniaColleges.edu is here to help guide you and your child through the process.

To create your parent account, connect by accessing the Parent/Student Accounts Tutorial:

• Go to CaliforniaColleges.edu
• Click on "Register your account".
• In the dropdown, choose "I am a Parent/Guardian".
• In the first field, begin typing Whittier Union High. A drop-down will appear. Be sure to select Whittier Union High.
• In the next field, begin typing La Serna High. A drop-down menu will appear. Select La Serna High.
• Enter the required information, including your child’s name, date of birth, and student ID number.
• For the student ID number, you can enter your child’s Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), which is located in your child’s transcript, or school ID. School ID and SSID can be found on Aeries If you need help finding your child’s ID number, contact your child’s counselor.
• Enter your First and Last Name
• On the next page, click Sign UP with Google or enter your email and create a password then click Register!

If you or your child have questions about how to sign in to or use CaliforniaColleges.edu, contact your child’s counselor.

If you have questions about your child’s academic progress, which courses your child should take, or how to use the Academic Planner or CSU and UC Eligibility tools, talk to your child’s counselor.

 

CCGI Tools & Features

CaliforniaColleges.edu makes it easy to create and follow an academic plan that will help your child become college and career ready.

 

Features

The Academic Planner provides an overview of courses your child has taken and allows your child to plan future courses. Based on your child’s goals, he or she may choose to take College Preparatory (P or CP) courses, more advanced Honors (H) courses, or Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, which could qualify for college credit. Many high schools also offer non A-G courses that count toward graduation requirements and may have other benefits to your child.

• Currently, if students wish to utilize the California Colleges Academic Planner they will need to manually enter all their courses.

The CSU and UC Eligibility Tools help make sure your child is on track to meet the minimum requirements for admission to a California State University (CSU) or a University of California (UC). These tools use course information from your child’s school to track the following:

• Your child’s progress toward meeting A-G Subject Area requirements. A green checkmark means your child has met the requirement for a specific subject area, such as Math (area “c”).
• Your child’s unofficial CSU or UC Grade Point Average (GPA). Your child must earn a C- or better in all “a-g” courses. CSU requires a minimum 2.0 GPA, while UC requires a minimum 3.0 GPA. However, admitted students generally have GPAs that are much higher than the minimum requirement.
• The target icons quickly tell whether or not your child is on track to meet eligibility requirements, assuming he or she completes all in-progress courses with a C- or better.  

Career

What do you want to do when you grow up? Begin your career exploration now to find careers that match your skills, academic and other interests.

Follow this link to learn more about Career Assessments.

 

Career Options

Use the Career Search Tool to find careers that are a good fit for you. Save your favorites to My Plan

Follow this link to learn more about Choosing a Career.

 

College Search Tool

The College Search allows you to define your best fit for college based on the criteria that are most important to you. You can compare colleges that you are interested in and save colleges to My Plan.

Follow this link to Learn about College, College Options in California or Building your College List.

 

Financial Aid

Financial aid helps you pay for college. Educate yourself and your family about your options and the application process so you can get financial aid to meet your educational goals. Start thinking about financial aid early so that when you’re a senior in high school, you’ll have a plan to pay for college. Learn some financial aid basics to get you started.

California Colleges has Financial Aid modules that can be done starting in 11th grade to help you learn about your options.

Senior year you will launch your FAFSA through this website.

Follow this link to Learn About Financial Aid. Follow this tutorial link to learn about Matching your Financial Aid application to CCGI.