Kamea Kellner is a student at Ventura College. She’s the first in her family to go to college.
"My dream coming to college is to provide myself and my family a stable life and a stable income," she told KCLU on Wednesday at the launch of the new financial aid cycle, which was held at the community college. "I'm the oldest sibling, so I carry that part of my identity with a lot of pride. Receiving financial aid has allowed me to pursue my passion."
Kellner is also President of the student body, so she hears from many fellow students about the barriers they face when seeking a college education.
"There's countless barriers our students have here," said Kellner. "A large number of our students are working either part-time or full-time. So that brings a barrier of how often they're able to attend campus and how many in-person versus online classes they take."
She continued, "Nearly half of us are first-generation, and over half of us are coming from a low-income household or receive financial aid. Those barriers keep growing, especially with federal uncertainty. And aside from the many, many barriers our students have, they're showing up every single day."
The acting president of Ventura College, Luca Lewis, stated that for students like Kellner, having access to financial aid is critical.
"For our students here, financial aid means everything. It's not just about being able to pay for classes, it's being able to pay housing, for food. We don't want students to ever be in a position where they're having to choose between going to school and putting food on the table," said Lewis.
There’s a growing momentum in the state for financial aid applications and —said Dr. Daisy Gonzales, the Executive Director of California Student Aid Commission — there’s a pressing need for financial support for college studies.
"Ventura last year increased their financial aid applications by 10 percent. That means that there is something special here. Everything from being able to support a student to understanding that financial aid is critical to help students stay enrolled," she said.
She continued, "Here in Ventura, there is a lot of opportunity to better reach mixed status families undocumented students. In California, we have the California Dream Act application. It is a specific financial aid application. It's the California solution. That means that if you're in a family where your student is a U.S. citizen but the parent doesn't have a Social Security (number) you want to complete the California Dream Act application to get aid. We also then help you transition to get access to federal aid behind the scenes."
Here in Ventura, meeting that need is necessary, not just for the students but for the entire community — said Anne Paul King, the Executive Director of Ventura College Foundation.
"60 percent of our 12,000 students are eligible for financial aid at community college prices. Over 60 percent are food insecure, 48 percent of students are first in their families to go to college, and 39 percent are housing insecure," said Dr. King.
"I have watched students go from being homeless...go from being first-generation students where their families are working with wages that just don't make ends meet...and I have watched that one student who graduates from a community college — from Ventura College — pull their entire family out of poverty for good from that point forward. And that impacts our entire economy, both in the city, in the region, and the state."
