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

Steps to College 2026 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 Fifteenth Edition of Steps to College (STC), the largest bilingual and binational University Fair in Northern California. We are excited to share with you that this great event will take place on Saturday, February 7, 2026, at Cal Expo Buildings A and B, 1600 Exposition Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95815.

This university fair is a unique educational project with a 15-year history that is annually organized by the Consulate General of Mexico in Sacramento, the California Department of Education, the California Student Aid Commission, the University of California system, the California State University system, the Association of California Independent Colleges and Universities, the Community College system, Mexican universities, the Cien Amigos group, and the Mexican Cultural Center of Northern California.

The STC has helped more than 20,000 Northern California students learn how to access financial aid that California offers to anyone who wants to continue studying. Through specialized workshops, not just students but also their families have been oriented on how to apply to universities and to access diverse resources. Additionally, students have benefited from personalized support from counselors and advisors as well as legal, immigration, and health experts.

Our goal is to reach districts located in rural areas and encourage greater participation from their students, many of them “dreamers” of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. We invite and encourage you to share this information with your students.

In the meantime, please visit the STC website at https://stepstocollegesac.org/ and the STC YouTube video at https://youtu.be/ANc_aKtjLzQ for more information.

If you have further questions, please contact María Esther Bolio, Consul for Community and Cultural Affairs, at mbolio@sre.gob.mx; Juan Carlos Ruiz at culturalessac@sre.gob.mx; or José Manuel López at imesac@sre.gob.mx.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
California Department of Education

Christian Tonatiuh González
Cónsul General of México
Sacramento, California