Hundreds of thousands of children and recent college graduates in Stanislaus County have money waiting to be claimed through the CalKIDS program.
The California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS), established as part of the 2019-2020 state budget, invests money into education savings accounts for eligible children.
More than $38 million dollars are still waiting to be claimed by families across the county. There is no deadline to gain access to a CalKIDS Scholarship Account.
Recent high school graduates can access the funds immediately, and have until they are 26 years old to claim any funds available to them.
There are currently 23,371 CalKIDS Scholarship Accounts waiting to be claimed by eligible high school students in Stanislaus County.
Any children born in the state after July 1, 2022 have savings accounts waiting for them with separate funds. This group is known as “at-birth awardees.” There is no income requirement for students in this category to claim scholarships.
Parents whose children still have many years left in school can access these accounts and will be able to see the seed funding. These families are encouraged to use the information to plan for future educational expenses.
School-aged children born before that date are eligible if they have a documented low-income status (homeless, foster youth, or those who qualify for the free school lunch program) or are an English-language learner.
In Stanislaus County, approximately 69% of public high school students are eligible for scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 to help pay for college or career training. The money can be used to pay for tuition at a college or trade school, room and board, textbooks and more.
The program is overseen by the ScholarShare Investment Board. The board is currently proposing modifications to the program’s regulations.
Some proposed changes include changing language to describe the process of accessing funds as “withdrawals” and “claims” to “distribution request” instead. The deadline to submit public comment on these changes is July 9, 2026.
Visit CalKIDS.org to check eligibility.
Vivienne Aguilar is a reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact her at vivienne@themodestofocus.org.