The University of California campuses advertise their diversity and excitingly welcome first-generation students to all 8 campuses during the season of new acceptances. However, although these campuses welcome first generation students and provide student resources for them, there is a lack of informational resources regarding tuition and overall financial concerns for the first-generation parents and/or guardians.  

I am currently a first-generation Asian-American student at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Enrolling into one of the top three universities of the UC system was an exciting moment as it marked a new chapter of my life. However, along with the joyful celebrations followed many stressful moments shared with my parents as we attempted to navigate through the overwhelming amount of information regarding the several different branches of financial aid such as, scholarships, grants, and the complicated process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). As it was my parents' first time sending off one of their children to college, they turned to the school website for resources to guide their difficult journey of figuring out the process of housing, financial aid, and etc. 

Not only was the entire process of sending their child off to college for the first time in America difficult because of the lack of resources for first-generation parents, but also having to learn new information with a language barrier made the process even more difficult.  As I was looking for resources regarding financial aid to assist my parents, I hit a dead end because majority of the links claiming to be resources for first-generation parents resulted in pages of vague information with little to no translation options. 

I am asking for UCSB to expand the limited informational resources regarding the multi-step process for students' enrollment for first-generation parents. The UC Universities are currently advertising their campuses to be diverse and welcoming of first-generation students. However, I believe that it is just as important to target and satisfy the needs of the parents as it ties in with the overall success of the students. Please sign this petition to expand and develop detailed informational resources that answer the questions of first-generation parents and/or guardians with the assistance of translation and/or a translator in multiple languages.