UCSB Early Academic Outreach Presents Spring Higher Education Week

The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) at UC Santa Barbara will hold its annual spring Higher Education Week, a four-day event beginning on Tuesday, March 11. Representatives from universities, colleges and other institutions of higher education will visit high school campuses in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties to meet with high school juniors and discuss post-secondary education opportunities.



The visits include brief presentations on financial aid and college admissions followed by college fairs. The first will take place at Lompoc, Cabrillo and Righetti high schools on Tuesday, March 11. On Wednesday, March 12, the event will move to San Marcos, Dos Pueblos and Carpinteria high schools, with an evening college fair at Foothill Technology High School in Ventura from 6 to 8 p.m. On Thursday, March 13, college fairs will be held at Rio Mesa and Santa Paula high schools, with an evening fair at Oxnard High School from 6 to 7 p.m. The week will conclude with visits to Channel Islands and Pacifica high schools on Friday, March 14.



In all, more than 3,500 high school juniors will meet with representatives from the UC, Cal State and community college systems. A host of other private and public colleges and universities will be represented, including Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Purdue University, Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque, Hawaii Pacific University, the University of Alabama, the University of Wyoming and various career technical education (CTE) programs from participating regional community colleges.



Additional event participants include the Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation; UCSB’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships; and several Associated Students organizations such as the Environmental Affairs Board, the Student Initiated Recruitment and Retention Committee, IDEAS (Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success), the Black Student Union and Educating Leaders of the Future.



“We are so thankful that we have been able to provide this type of higher education awareness service to so many schools over the past six years,” said Britt Ortiz, EAOP director. “Higher Ed Week really exposes a huge number of first-generation and low-income high school students to all four systems of higher education in California and out-of-state colleges all on the same day.



“Many students will be able to ask direct questions to college reps for the first time about admissions requirements, the transfer process and Career Tech Ed programs,” Ortiz continued. He added that representatives from UCSB’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships will be on hand to address questions related to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), scholarships and AB540, which allows qualified undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at California’s public colleges and universities.  



UCSB EAOP seeks to raise student achievement and close achievement gaps to increase the number of students who have the opportunity to attain a postsecondary education. EAOP focuses on four key strategies — academic advising, college knowledge, academic enrichment and entrance exam preparation — to help students reach college eligibility and participate in higher education.



A variety of pre-college programs offered on an annual basis give students the opportunity to visit UCSB, tour campus labs, meet with faculty members and conduct research or participate in other academic enrichment activities. Among the programs and services are annual transcript evaluation, academic advisement, academic achiever’s receptions, study skills and testing strategies, college readiness seminars, the Education-Leadership-Careers Conference, UC Success Night and college readiness academies.