Sacramento County has about $73 million in CalKIDS funds available to help families pay for college and career-training expenses like tuition, textbooks, and computers. The money is reserved for eligible public school students and babies born in California since mid-2022 through the statewide program.
High school seniors are being encouraged to check if they already have a CalKIDS account as they complete their FAFSA and California Dream Act applications. The priority filing deadline for both applications is March 2, making it a key moment to access these funds.
How Much Is Waiting In Sacramento County
According to The Sacramento Bee, about $73 million in CalKIDS scholarship money is currently available to students in Sacramento County. That total reflects automatic seed deposits the state has already created for eligible students and newborns. The catch is that families have to claim the money online before any of it can actually be used.
Who Qualifies And How Much
CalKIDS says eligible public school students who were identified as low income or English learners receive $500. Students who were identified as foster youth or homeless during the qualifying year can receive an additional $500 for each of those categories, for a combined maximum of $1,500.
Children born in California on or after July 1, 2022, are also given a smaller CalKIDS seed deposit at birth. Program guidance lists tuition and mandatory fees, books, supplies, room and board and computer equipment among the expenses the money can be used for.
How To Claim Your Scholarship
To actually tap the funds, families or students need to go online. CalKIDS accounts are claimed through CalKIDS.org, and students must provide three key pieces of information: their 10-digit Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), the county where they attended school in fall 2021-22, and their date of birth, according to Patch.
An SSID is usually listed in a school portal, on a report card or on a transcript. Parents who cannot find it there can request it from their child’s school or counselor. Once the SSID, county and birthdate are entered, families complete the process through the CalKIDS portal, and the scholarship balance becomes visible in the student’s account.
Why Seniors Should Check Now
The priority filing window for the FAFSA and the California Dream Act Application for the 2026-27 year closes on March 2, 2026, a date many colleges and state programs use when deciding how to award limited financial aid, according to UC Riverside.
CalKIDS outreach has been encouraging high school seniors to claim any available accounts before that deadline so the money can be factored in alongside other grants, scholarships and loans, as reported by The Sacramento Bee. In other words, seniors are being told not to leave free aid sitting on the sidelines while they scramble to cover college bills.
Still, Many Accounts Go Unclaimed
Even with all that cash on the table, plenty of families have not logged in. Early rollout numbers showed low sign-up rates. CapRadio reported in 2023 that only a small share of seeded CalKIDS accounts had been claimed and that Sacramento County alone still had tens of millions of dollars left unused.
School districts and state officials have tried to chip away at the problem with outreach events and Money Festivals to walk families through the process. Advocacy and outreach groups say the main obstacle is not the paperwork, it is simply that many people still have not heard of the program at all.
Where To Get Help
Families can check eligibility and claim accounts at CalKIDS.org. The program’s "Need Help" page lists a support phone line along with step-by-step guides for finding an SSID and claiming an account.
For one-on-one help, parents and students can reach out to their school counseling office or call the CalKIDS support line for assistance with the online claim process. For many Sacramento families, that short phone call or login could unlock a meaningful chunk of college or career-training costs already waiting in their child’s name.
