Today, Rep. Pete Aguilar announced $348,002 for the San Bernardino Community College District (SBCCD) and $444,751 for California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) from the Department of Education’s Student Support Services (SSS) grant program. The program provides funding to help colleges provide financial aid, tutoring and academic counseling to low-income students, students with disabilities and other disadvantaged students. 

“In the midst of this pandemic, our students need additional resources to ensure they can continue their educations and gain the skills they need to launch careers. Without federal financial aid programs, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to earn a college degree, so I know firsthand how important it is to invest in our students. I’ll continue advocating for programs to make college more affordable and give all of our students a chance to succeed,” said Aguilar.

“We appreciate Congressman Aguilar’s advocacy in Washington on behalf of our community college students in the Inland Empire,” said Dr. Anne Viricel, chair of the San Bernardino Community College District Board of Trustees. “With this grant, San Bernardino Valley College will continue opening doors of opportunity for our next generation through academic tutoring, counseling, and financial aid.”   

“We are deeply honored and delighted to once again have our Student Assistance in Learning (SAIL) program be a grant recipient from the Department of Education’s Student Support Services Program,” said Tomás D. Morales, president of California State University, San Bernardino. “Since 1981, the CSUSB SAIL program has served more than 6,000 first-generation, low-income and students with disabilities providing them with a variety of support services to ensure their academic and personal success as well as gearing them toward graduation.”

“Our students in SAIL succeed because we focus on what they need for the present, but also for their futures after graduation,” Morales said. “SAIL offers them academic advising, financial aid counseling and personal finance planning, career and personal counseling, but the program also has supplemental courses to promote success such classes in college reading, writing improvement and general study skills. SAIL is also there to help in preparation for graduation with assistance in graduate school planning and applications along with cultural, volunteer and leadership development opportunities.”

Aguilar serves as the Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, the committee that determines funding levels for agencies and programs like the SSS.

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