Sallie Mae Fund National Bus Tour Motors into Los Angeles Today to Educate Families about Planning and Paying for College Just in Time for Financial Aid Application Season

“The Sallie Mae Fund’s spring 2007 “Paying for College” Bus Tour visits Los Angeles this weekend to educate both students and families – in particular Latinos – about attending and paying for higher education. Four stops in L.A. are part of The Fund’s 36-city, West coast campaign, now in its third year. In total, area students will receive $3,000 in college scholarships and three MTV Tr3s video cameras.

The L.A. stops include two open-to-the-public events – one tomorrow at Santee Educational Complex 10 a.m. and one Monday at Fulton College Prep 6 p.m.. Representatives from Congresswoman Grace Flores Napolitano’s DCA and Congressman Xavier Becerra’s D-CA offices will be at these events. In addition, a students-only workshop will be held this morning at Washington Prep School 8 a.m. and another will be held Monday, Feb. 5 at Theodore Roosevelt High School 9 a.m.. Although the Washington Prep and Roosevelt High events are for students only, media are welcome to attend.

“As the number of Latino students seeking higher education continues to grow, so does the need to have access to critical financial aid information that affords Hispanic families a college education,” said Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute President & CEO, Esther Aguilera. “The tour complements CHCI’s 29-year history of providing youth leadership development programs and educational services that help open doors of opportunity for Latino youth to succeed. CHCI is thrilled to partner with the “Paying for College” Bus Tour and send the message that a college education is within reach for all Latino youth.”

National Tour spokesperson Lilyan Prado, a 27-year-old immigrant and teacher who worked from the age of 11 to help support her family and overcame many obstacles to stay in school and graduate from college, was on hand to lead workshops and Tour stop events. Lilyan, an expert on The Sallie Mae Fund’s “Paying for College” Bus Tour and on planning and paying for college topics, is available for interviews with media.

The workshops and counseling sessions offer bilingual, hands-on access to financial resources and information on scholarships, grants, loans and federal aid. At each workshop, students are entered to win a college scholarship of up to $1,000. Students are also able to climb on board the Tour’s high-tech bus to search for scholarships or to begin the federal financial aid process at one of four Web-enabled workstations.

“Information shapes a family’s decision about college,” said Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund. “Too many people are surprised to learn that federal aid, state aid and scholarships are available to all families. We attempt to bridge the information gap for any student who dreams of college.” The high school graduating class of 2008-09 is projected to be the largest in U.S. history, with some 3.2 million students. In California, more than 250,000 Hispanic/Latino students will graduate from California high schools in 2007-08.

Sallie Mae Fund research found that more than half of Latino parents and 43 percent of Latino young adults could not name a single source of financial aid, yet 75 percent of Latino youth currently not enrolled in college indicated that they would have been more likely to attend college if they had better information on financial aid.

The Sallie Mae Fund, in partnership with the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning and Development’s Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, the Walt Disney Company and Southern California Edison, offers an additional free resource for California Latino students””the Latino College Dollars Scholarship Directory. This up-to-date scholarship guide features hundreds of scholarships, and is available without registration at www.latinocollegedollars.org. In addition to scholarships, free and inexpensive money is available to California students from the federal and state governments. College-bound students are encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the application form required for students to be eligible for federal assistance. In California, the FAFSA deadline is March 2, 2007.

This year’s Tour features a partnership with MTV Tr3s and its VOCES (Voices) initiative, the largest online community created to empower Latinos to get the most out of their education, prepare for high school graduation and explore their higher education options. VOCES partners with Youth Venture, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to highlight education dreams and obstacles of Hispanic teens in their own words. Through contests at Bus Tour events around the country and online, MTV Tr3s will choose dozens of student videographers and provide them with video cameras to provide a platform for young Latinos to express their stories, ideas, inspirations and fears about their high school education. Select stories will be featured online at http://www .mtv3voces.com, and some may also be featured on the MTV Tr3s television network.

Additional Bus Tour partners include the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF).

“MTV Tr3s is proud to partner with The Sallie Mae Fund to help Latino youth express their education voz,” said Lucia Ballas-Trayor, senior vice president and general manager of MTV Tr3s. “Through the collective efforts of the “Paying for College’ Bus Tour and our own MTV Tr3s VOCES campaign, Latino youth will be empowered to get the most out of their education, prepare for high school graduation, explore college options, and effect changes in their communities.”

Since 2004, The “Paying for College” Bus Tours have reached more than 75,000 students and parents, conducted nearly 470 “Paying for College” workshops and awarded approximately $280,000 in college scholarships. After attending a Sallie Mae Fund “Paying for College” workshop in 2005, 80 percent of students and parents said that they would be able to pay for college, as opposed to only 31 percent prior to attending the workshop.

“There is a critical need for reliable and trustworthy information by the Latino parents and Latino youth on college admissions and finance,” said Harry Pachon, president of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California’s School of Policy, Planning and Development. “TRPI commends The Sallie Mae Fund for initiating these projects.”

In addition to the workshops and scholarships that will be provided through the Tour, The Sallie Mae Fund is deeply invested in college access initiatives across the state of California, including its recently announced $1 million college access initiative to raise awareness about college financial aid options among California’s minority communities. The campaign is aimed at narrowing the college financial-aid information gap that keeps many qualified minority students out of college.

Since 2001, The Sallie Mae Fund awarded nearly $1.4 million in grants to charitable organizations in California. In that same time period, students attending California colleges and universities received more than $1.2 million in scholarships through Sallie Mae Fund programs. In addition, Sallie Mae’s employees led efforts to bring an additional $570,000 to the state through the company’s Matching Gifts and Dollars for Doers programs. For a list of Tour stops and additional details – including more stops in California, visit

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