California College Guidance Initiative

The California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) smooths the path to college and career for all California students and unites the efforts of the systems and institutions that serve them. CCGI serves as the core of the college application tools in California's newly-established Cradle-to-Career System. Today, our unique, data-informed tools are available to one-in-five CA 6th-12th grade students - a population larger than the entire K-12 systems of 22 U.S. states. Over the next few years, they'll become available to all California students. Through CaliforniaColleges.edu, the state's official college- and career-planning platform, we provide comprehensive college, career, and financial aid information, along with tools that are informed by students' transcript data. These tools are designed to support counselors and help students identify and realize their college goals. Using a combination of data infrastructure, hands-on support, and online curricula, CCGI works to bring together educational systems and create a better academic and vocational future for California students. We do this by streamlining the college application process for students and families, supporting data accuracy and transparency to make sure data errors are resolved before they have negative impacts on students, and providing educators in both K-12 and higher education with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions around admissions, placement, guidance, support services, and financial aid.