January 28, 2021

Dear County Superintendents, District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and High School Principals:

Steps To College 2021 Event and Scholarship Opportunity

On behalf of the California Department of Education and the Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento, we are pleased to invite you, your students, and their families to the Tenth Edition of Steps to College (STC). The STC is the largest bilingual and binational University Fair in Northern California, which will be held virtually throughout February 2021, live and via a special platform created for this purpose.

This unique fair is a long-term educational project organized on a yearly basis by the Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento in partnership with the California Student Aid Commission, the University of California System, the California State University System, the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, the Community College System, Mexican Universities, the Cien Amigos advocacy group, and the Mexican Cultural Center of Northern California.

Since its implementation, STC has served more than 13,600 students from Northern California through specialized workshops on how to apply to college and access financial aid and scholarships. Students have also benefited from personalized support from counselors and Cash for College advisors as well as legal and health experts.

Our goal for this Tenth Annual STC Fair is to take advantage of a microsite containing valuable information; live zoom workshops; online personal consulting; and hosting over 3,000 students. Additionally, we aim to reach school districts in rural areas and motivate higher participation of these students, many of them “dreamers” from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Consequently, we ask that you please share this information with your students.

In the meantime, we are sharing the Steps to College web page at https://stepstocollegesac.org/, hoping you find this information both helpful and inspiring.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Didya Fong at 916-329-3540 or politicossac@sre.gob.mx or Juan Carlos Ruiz at 916-329-3537 or culturalessac@sre.gob.mx.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
California Department of Education

Liliana Ferrer
Consul General of Mexico
Sacramento, California