Consolidated Application and Reporting System

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Program Profiles | CARS Support Desk

Register for User Account

Centralized Authentication System (CAS)
CAS is the system for establishing a system user account with the California Department of Education (CDE). Registering a user account in CAS does not provide a user with access to the Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS) or any other CDE system that uses CAS. If your CAS user name has not yet been added to CARS, you will receive the error message "CARS access is not available to this user". Information on how to use your CAS user name to gain access to CARS can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) web page in the User Access section.

CARS Login

(CARS) Login
Login to the CARS system, which can only be accessed by authorized users who have registered in the CAS system and have been granted rights by their CARS local educational agency (LEA) User Administrator.

• Process To Follow If You Forget Your CARS Password

CARS Calendar for Data Collections

CARS Data Collection Release Schedule (Updated 01-May-2025)
List of current and upcoming tentative release opening dates and deadlines, along with the applicable data collections for those release periods.

Training and User Documents

Purpose: To provide links to individual training documents and webinars.

• CARS User Guide (DOC; 2MB; Updated 20-Nov-2015)
  A guide to provide CARS users with the knowledge needed to navigate efficiently through the CARS and to enter or view data.
• Navigating CARS Webinar (Video; 22:45)
  An introduction to CARS that is targeted towards new LEA users. The webinar covers how to move around in the CARS, what to expect on each tab, what to expect in each form, and additional information about how the CARS works.
• Current Year Program Instructions (Posted 01-May-2025)
  Data collection instructions which include the purpose, program information, program contact and procedures for completing the 2025–26 Consolidated Application for Funding Categorical Aid Programs.
• 2024–25 Program Instructions (Posted 01-Dec-2024)
  Data collection instructions which include the purpose, program information, program contact and procedures for completing the 2024–25 Consolidated Application for Funding Categorical Aid Programs.
• 2023–24 Consolidated Application Instructions (Posted 29-Nov-2023)
  Data collection instructions which include the purpose, program information, program contact and procedures for completing the 2023–24 Consolidated Application for Funding Categorical Aid Programs.

CARS-Specific Communication

News Flash Updates

• CARS Update Flash #81 (Dated 28-Apr-2025)
  News Flash 81 was sent to LEA User Administrators announcing the CARS 2025–26 Spring Release is scheduled to open on May 1, 2025.

Useful Information and Links

California School Directory

The California School Directory contains information about all California public schools, private schools, non-public nonsectarian schools, school districts, and county offices of education.

Application for County-District-School (CDS) Code and School Changes

School districts that plan to open or change a school status need to do so using either the Online Public Update for Schools (OPUS) system or the school forms. Those can be found at the CDE Schools & Districts web page.