KPCC created a ‘How To Get To College’ Guide for Adults in California. Now we want to ship you copies, for free.

Adriana Pera
Engagement at LAist
3 min readMay 12, 2022

Last year, KPCC/LAist engagement producer Brianna Lee wrote an extensive digital series of articles for Californians interested in higher education. She then teamed up with assistant producer Caitlin Hernández to create a condensed, physical version of the guide for distribution to the public. We’re working with the L.A. County Library and L.A. Public Library to hand out thousands of these booklets in multiple languages to more than 150 branches across Los Angeles.

UPDATE: As of May 20th, all English-language copies in our supply had been requested. If you’re interested in receiving English copies, please make note of that if ordering the available translations (Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, and simplified Chinese). We’ll let you know if we’re able to produce more.

Now, we want to ship you copies, for free.

English Copies of “The Adult’s Guide To Going to College in California.”

The booklet is a comprehensive guide on getting to college in California. No matter how old you are, or where you’re starting, this book is filled with useful resources, including:

  • Detailed explanations of higher ed options across California
  • Advice for reducing the costs of education
  • Information about trade schools and certificate programs
  • Resources for choosing the right area of study
  • Guidance for students that are parents, veterans, or have a disability

Copies of the booklet are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.

Inspired by the research she and colleague Jill Replogle did to understand potential college students’ needs and motivations, Brianna spoke with community members across Los Angeles to discover what Angelenos really wanted to know about higher ed. Some of their responses pointed to a lack of readily available resources and counseling for adults who want to go back to school.

While private high schools often provide intensive college counseling for their students, only one third of public high schools in the United States offer college advisory services. But for anybody without access to institutional resources? Where to find the help isn’t as clear.

Where should an adult go for advice on financial aid? Or assistance with child care when they have to be in class? Who can suggest the right programs for an adult who works full time?

Recognizing this need, Brianna made sure that the guide included resources for students of all ages, facing many kinds of circumstances. She also recruited test readers to go over her work to assess its accuracy. And when altering the digital guide for its print version, she wanted it to stand out to the audience that college guides and materials aren’t typically made for, re-titling the booklet “The Adult’s Guide to Going to College in California.”

Does your organization serve community members who could be interested in higher education? Do you work for a public high school in Los Angeles in need of extra resources for students interested in college?

KPCC/LAist wants to ship copies of the booklet directly to you, for free.

Fill out this form to order free copies for your organization.

Orders are limited to businesses located in California. Copies are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. Copies of booklets can be ordered in bundles of 25, and up to 100, for each language available.

If you’d like to request more than 100 copies in any (or multiple) languages, please email apera@scpr.org with details of your request.

This project was created for our Pathways to Higher Education Beat. The pathways beat explores the full range of education options available after K-12, from job training and short-term certificates to four-year degrees and everything in between.

This project was made possible with funding from the College Futures Foundation.

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