San Mateo-Barbara Bollier, a 93-year-old San Francisco, said that she only made Valentines for one person: her husband. And although he isn’t any longer alive, this 12 months was no different.

She lives at Sunrise from San Mateo, a facility for assisted living for seniors. On Friday, senior helpers for in-home senior care sponsored a card trip for the residents to alleviate the loneliness that some could feel on Valentine's Day. Bollier's card was covered with heart -shaped stickers and she or he wrote a message to her late husband: “Happy Valentine's Day (wherever they are).”

According to the previous American general surgeon Vivek Murthy, loneliness, isolation and lack of connection are a crisis of public health within the country. This lack of connection can have physical health consequences, including a 29% increased risk of heart diseases and an increased risk of stroke.

“Social isolation can be very widespread in the older community. It is therefore important to go to places where your family is far away to bring only this feeling of connection to the seniors,” said Rebeca Gonzalez, spokesman for senior Helpers.

Senior Helpers employees offer seniors for his or her homeland by helping them with day by day life activities. The organization serves individuals who continue to exist the San Francisco peninsula to Sunnyvale. According to Gonzalez, a branch in San Jose also serves municipalities in the complete South Bay.

At the event on Friday, the Gonzalez and Sunrise employees made Red and Rosa Cupcakes and cups of ice cream. Gonzalez also brought Cardstock paper, markings, glue and stickers in order that the residents could produce Valentine's Day maps. Some wrote friendly news for the staff and thanked them for the establishment of events, while others were addressed to relatives.

“I think you do your best what you can do here to make it a nice day,” said Bollier.

Gonzalez also distributed colourful cards that she had collected from friends who work with children.

“It is very thoughtful from you to remember people who are in the facility and strangers in this area,” said the local pilar Sabalvaro. “We don't know them, but I think they are very thoughtful from the elderly people who are resident here.”

According to a national survey by the University of Michigan, a healthy aging in January 2023, a 3rd of the seniors stated that they feel isolated, having an absence of camaraderie and rare social contact.

Sabalvaro, who lives together with her husband at sunrise, said she “had no choice” than to live in the power, and added that it could not feel right to force her children to get up because that Would be “selfish” and you’ll have your personal life.

“You feel lonely because contact is different,” said Sabalvaro. “They are busy, they come, most of them give them and I know that they give the best you know how and that is calming.”

Bollier said she never really felt lonely, but it’s because her family is “really good” for her.

“I am lucky in this way because there are some people who don't have it,” said Bollier. “If I hadn't decided on a family, I wouldn't have the family that I am doing now.”

Sabalvaro, nonetheless, said she accepted the offer to participate within the event on Valentine's Day since it rendered the community.

“If you are alone at home, it is very lonely and there is no activity,” she said.

A brand new exhibition on the Euphrates Art Museum features works that aim to capture, express or trigger moments of connection, joy or wonder. “Glimmers” gets its name from a psychobiological term that describes those little moments that might help the nervous system feel secure or calm.

“Glimmers” shall be at Euphrates at De Anza College from October twenty second to December twenty second. 12. An artists' reception with refreshments and live music is planned for Saturday, November 2, from 1:30 p.m. to three p.m

The exhibition features photographs taken by Edwin Carungay in Oaxaca, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, in addition to sculptures made by Cheryl Coon using a whole lot of plastic cable ties.

Kristen Lindseth's “Sanctuaries for the Spirit” sculptures are inspired by Shinto shrines throughout Japan and symbolize reverence and reverence for nature. She created the Takahashi Inari Shrine for her 95-year-old mother-in-law, who’s a follower of Shinto and Zen Buddhism. In front of it’s a miniature chozuya, or water purification station, which you enter before heading to a shrine.

“I view cleansing as washing away worries so that it is possible to be fully present,” Lindseth said.

In “Feel Seen,” artist Bushra Gill reflects on how her headscarf makes her feel concurrently invisible and on display, and the way she is obligated to at all times have a smile on her face to counteract the otherness of the headband.

“Emigrating from Pakistan at a young age and feeling disconnected from everything forces me to think about connections, particularly an underlying structure of everything around us that connects us to each other and to nature, time and space,” Gill said.

Hadi Aghaee's paintings depict masterpieces of 18th-century Persian architecture in Shiraz, Iran, where he grew up.

“Glimmers” also features work by muralist Carlos Rodriguez and a Dia de Los Muertos-inspired installation by Fernanda Luisa Esparza and Lydia Sanchez featuring a whole lot of colourful Huichol/Wixarika pom-poms, symbolizing a life in harmony with nature and all of creation.

The Euphrates Art Museum is open Tuesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to three p.m. The museum may also be open through the flea market on Saturday, December seventh, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The first Thursday open mic evenings are scheduled for November seventh December fifth, 5:30pm-7pm For more information visit www.deanza.edu/euphrat/inthemuseum.

Originally published: October 20, 2024 at 6:58 am

Vice President Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resilience” required to function president. her doctor said in a letter A report summarizing her medical history and health status was released on Saturday.

Dr. Joshua Simmons, a U.S. Army colonel and physician to the vice chairman, wrote that Harris, 59, maintains a healthy, energetic lifestyle and that her last physical exam last April was “unremarkable.”

She “possesses the physical and mental resilience necessary to successfully carry out the duties of the presidency, including those as head of government, head of state and commander in chief,” he wrote in a two-page letter.

Harris' campaign hopes to make use of the moment to attract a contrast with Republican Donald Trump, who has released limited details about his health through the years, and lift questions on his fitness for office, in response to a campaign aide who spoke anonymously desired to stay to debate sensitive topics.

Trump has released little or no health information, including after his ear was grazed by a bullet in an assassination attempt in July.

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said Saturday that Trump voluntarily released updates from his personal doctor in addition to detailed reports from Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who was Trump's White House doctor. Jackson treated Trump after the assassination.

“Everyone has concluded that he is in perfect and excellent health to become commander in chief,” Cheung said in an announcement. The campaign press office provided links to a few of Trump's previous medical reports. These included: https://tinyurl.com/yckc495b And https://tinyurl.com/4z27pk2f

Simmons, who said he has been Harris' primary doctor for 3 and a half years, said the vice chairman has suffered from allergies and urticaria, also called hives, previously, for which she has undergone allergen immunotherapy for the past three years.

Simmons said Harris' recent blood work and other test results were “unremarkable.”

According to the summary of an examination conducted six months ago, Harris' vital signs showed a blood pressure of 128 over 74, a heart rate of 78 beats per minute, a pulse oximetry of 100% on room air with a respiratory rate of 16 breaths per minute and a temperature of 98, 7 degrees. Pulse oximetry measures the oxygen levels in an individual's blood.

Simmons reported that Harris' head, eyes, ears, nose and throat were normal.

Also within the report: Harris wears contact lenses for mild myopia; there may be a family history of maternal colon cancer; She stays current on preventative care recommendations, including colonoscopy and annual mammograms.

Harris' mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was 70 when she died of colon cancer in February 2009.

The vice chairman “maintains a healthy, active lifestyle despite her busy schedule,” including “intense daily aerobic exercise and core strength training,” Simmons reported. She eats healthily, doesn’t devour tobacco products and drinks alcohol “only occasionally and in moderation,” he wrote.

When Harris' office released the medical report, her campaign highlighted recent media reports that raised questions on Trump's health and mental state, in addition to his failure to offer details about his health and medical history.

Trump, 78, eagerly questioned President Joe Biden's health because the 81-year-old president sought re-election. Since Biden was replaced on the ticket by Harris, Trump's own health has drawn more attention.

Last November, Trump celebrated Biden's birthday by issuing a letter from his doctor, who reported that the previous president was in “excellent” physical and mental condition.

The letter posted on Trump's social media platform didn’t contain any details to support its claims – measurements corresponding to weight, blood pressure and levels of cholesterol, or the outcomes of a test.

The statewide ballot initiative Proposition 34 is a political oddity: It claims to manage health care, but is actually about rent control.

Funded by the California Apartment Association, Proposition 34 proposes restrictions on how “certain health care facilities” spend their money, but targets one particularly: the AIDS Healthcare Foundation – the first funder of Proposition 33, which might allow cities to regulate rent to expand. The measure is one in all 10 statewide proposals on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The Yes on 34 committee, funded primarily by the housing association, said in a press release that unscrupulous health care corporations had used a “legal loophole” to funnel money received through a federal prescription drug program to “pet projects that have provided no benefit.” “, diverting patients,” including “spending millions on lobbying and pouring millions more into political campaigns.”

Critics call it “revenge of the landowners.” The AIDS Healthcare Foundation said Proposition 34 was “specifically designed to bring the nonprofit foundation to its knees” “in retaliation for its sponsorship of Proposition 33.” Landlords sponsoring the measure need to reject its advocacy for rent control — it supported two similar ballot measures that state voters rejected in 2018 and 2020 — and other tenant protection measures, in response to the muse.

The Los Angeles-based foundation operates HIV care and prescription services and inexpensive housing across the U.S., including 10 in Los Angeles but none within the Bay Area, to combat homelessness. The prescription drug program generates most of the muse's $2.5 billion in annual revenue and allows it and other groups that serve disadvantaged people to generate revenue through insurance claims for drugs they receive from drug manufacturers Get a reduction.

Shaun Bowles, a political science professor at UC Riverside who studies ballot measures, described Proposition 34 as an extreme example of the “obfuscation and deception that is part of politics.”

“It’s a strange way to fight a political fight,” Bowles said. “It is highly misleading. I don’t remember seeing anything like this before.”

Under the proposal, health care providers which have spent greater than $100 million over a 10-year period on anything apart from direct patient care and in addition operate multifamily properties could be required to “report at least 500 serious health and safety violations.” Spend 98% of federal prescription drug discount program revenue on direct patient care. These very specific requirements point to the AIDS Foundation.

California's political donations transparency laws allow voters to trace the cash, see who’s supporting ballot measures and understand the intentions behind them.

The The California Apartment Association committed $29.4 million to pass Proposition 34. And the California Association of Realtors donated $250,000 to support Prop 34, state data shows.

The The AIDS Healthcare Foundation provided roughly $1.2 million within the fight against Proposition 34.

The foundation spent $37 million in support of rent control Proposition 33, while the California Apartment Association contributed $34.5 million in support.

In a Public Policy Institute of California poll of California residents in late August and early September, 53% of respondents said they’d vote “yes” on Prop 34 and 43% said they’d vote “no.”

But Bowles said the confusing nature of a measure that affects each pharmaceuticals and multifamily housing could lead on some voters to reject it.

“There's a certain tendency,” Bowles said, “for people to say, 'No, I don't know what I'm voting for.' “

Originally published: October 5, 2024 at 6:15 am

With the Olympic torch worn out in Parisall eyes turn to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic Games.

The host city has promised that the following Summer Games might be “car-free.”

For individuals who know Los Angeles, this seems too optimistic. Car stays king in LA, despite growing public transportation options.

When LA hosted the 1932 Games, it had an in depth public transport networkwith buses and a extensive network of electrical trams. Today, the trolleys have long since disappeared; passengers say city buses don’t arrive on time and the bus stops are dirty. What happened?

This query fascinates me because I’m a Economics Professor examines why society abandons and sometimes returns to certain technologies, comparable to phonograph records, landline telephones, and metal coins. The demise of the electrical streetcars in Los Angeles and today's attempts to reinstate them vividly illustrate the prices and challenges of such a revival.

Driving the red and yellow cars

Transportation is a top priority in any city, but this is particularly true in Los Angeles, which has been a sprawling metropolis from the beginning.

At the start of the twentieth century, the railway magnate Henry Huntingtonwho owned large tracts of land around LA, began to divide his properties into small plots and construct houses. To attract buyers, he also built built a trolley system which brought residents from the outskirts to jobs and shopping opportunities in the town center.

In the Nineteen Thirties, Los Angeles had a thriving public transportation network with over 1,000 miles of electrical streetcar lines operated by two firms: Pacific Electric Railwaytogether with his “Red Cars” and Los Angeles Railwaytogether with his “Yellow Cars”.

The system was on no account perfect. Many people found trams uncomfortable and likewise unhealthy when filled with passengers. In addition, trams were slow because they’d to share the road with cars. As automotive use increased and roads became congested, journey times increased.

Nevertheless, many Los Angeles residents rode the streetcar – especially during World War II, when gasoline was rationed and automobile factories switched to producing military vehicles.

Decline of public transport

The end of the war marked the Terminus for tramsThe war effort had transformed oil, tire and auto firms into giants, and these industries needed latest buyers for goods from the massive factories they’d built for armaments production. Civilians and returning soldiers were bored with the rationing and privations of war and desired to spend their money on goods comparable to cars.

After Years of intensive use During the war, Los Angeles’ streetcar system needed expensive modernization. But within the mid-Forties, a lot of the system was sold to an organization called National City Lines, which partly owned by the automotive manufacturer General Motorsthe oil firms Standard Oil of California and Phillips Petroleum in addition to the tire manufacturer Firestone.

These powerful forces had no incentive to keep up or improve the old electric streetcar system. National City tore up the tracks and replaced the streetcars with buses built by General Motors, using Firestone tires and running on gasoline.

There is an extended scientific debate about whether selfish corporate interests intentionally destroyed LA's streetcar systemSome researchers argue that the system would have died by itselfwhat number of other tram networks all over the world.

The controversy even spilled over into popular culture within the 1988 film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, which clearly sided with the conspiracy.

What is undisputed is that by the mid-Forties, powerful social forces were transforming Los Angeles in order that commuters had only two options: drive or take the general public bus. As a result, LA was so congested that it often took hours to cross the town.

In 1990, the Los Angeles Times reported that individuals Install fridges, desks and televisions of their cars to deal with the terrible traffic. A series of movies, from “Falling down” To “Clueless” To “LaLaLand”, have introduced the challenge of the following level of driving in LA.

Traffic was also an issue when LA hosted the 1984 Summer Olympics. Games went easilyThe organizers convinced over 1,000,000 people to travel by bus, and so they many trucks drive outside peak hours hours. The 2028 games, nonetheless, could have about 50% more Athletes in competitionmeaning 1000’s more coaches, relations, friends and spectators. So simply pulling out plans from 40 years ago won't work.

Olympic transport plans

Today, Los Angeles is slowly constructing a more robust public transportation system. In addition to buses, there are actually 4 light rail lines – the brand new name for electric trams – and two subways. Many more follow the identical routes that the electrical trolleys used to coverThe reconstruction of this network is costs the general public billionssince the old system was completely dismantled.

Three major improvements are planned for the Olympics. First, LA airport terminals might be connected to the rail networkSecondly, the Los Angeles Organizing Committee plans to move people on a big scale by bus. This might be achieved by reserving some lanes for cars and This means they can be found for 3,000 additional busesthat are taken over from other places.

Finally, there are plans to permanently expand the bicycle paths in the town. A significant initiative, a motorbike path along the Los Angeles Riveris currently undergoing an environmental assessment, which will not be accomplished until 2028.

17 days car-free

I expect that Organizers need to host car-free Olympic Gamesby making traffic and parking conditions so bad in the course of the games that individuals are forced to take public transportation to sports venues across the town. After the games are over, nonetheless, most of LA is more likely to quickly return to its car-centric lifestyle.

As Casey WassermanChairman of the 2028 Organising Committee, recently put it this fashion: “The unique thing about the Olympic Games is that if you can set the rules – for traffic, for fans, for trade – you can solve a lot of problems over 17 days, unlike on a normal day in Los Angeles.”

This article has been updated to reflect that there are 4 light rail lines in Los Angeles.

Katie Ledecky gets off to an excellent start in Paris.

Ledecky, who entered the Summer Olympics with six gold medals – one fewer than Jenny Thompson, who has won probably the most gold medals ever as a swimmer, and two fewer than the all-time record for gold medals by an Olympian – began her campaign Saturday morning with a first-place finish in the ladies's 400-meter freestyle preliminary heats.

Ledecky, who was a multiple national champion during her time at Stanford, won her heat with a time of 4:02.19 She narrowly beat her rival Ariarne Titmus of Australia with a time of 4:02.46. Canadian Summer McIntosh, a rising star in the game, finished fourth with a time of 4:02.65.

The final will happen on Saturday afternoon and Ledecky may have her first likelihood at a medal at these Olympic Games.

Over the years, she and Titmus have clashed. While Ledecky holds the Olympic record within the 400-meter freestyle with a time of three:56.46, set on the 2016 Games, Titmus won gold in Tokyo and currently holds the world record with a time of three:55.38.

Stanford junior Torri Huske also got off to start within the pool on Saturday, winning her heat within the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 57.72 seconds to qualify for the semifinals. Her time was the third-best of the 32 competitors.

Gymnastics begins

The U.S. national gymnastics team got off to an excellent start on the Paris Olympics early Saturday morning, despite a disappointing performance from one among its top competitors.

Brody Malone, a multiple national champion at Stanford before graduating last 12 months, delivered an unusually poor performance, starting his competition with a fall on the pommel horse and ending it with a slip on the ground exercise.

Malone was the one returning competitor on the boys's team that represented Team USA in Tokyo. He finished third amongst five U.S. athletes that day, eliminating him from all individual events.

Malone had undergone knee surgery that kept him out of motion for much of the 2023 season, but he returned to Olympic qualifying events in June and put in a convincing performance that earned him qualification for Paris. But after a rocky start on Saturday, he may have to prove himself within the team event.

After an overall strong performance, the boys's team is predicted to advance to the team final on Monday morning.

The men finished second out of eight teams of their sub-division, just behind Great Britain. There are three sub-divisions, with the highest eight teams overall advancing to the ultimate.

Asher Hong, a sophomore at Stanford, is one among the boys who did well, because the Texan native finished his division No. 3 on silent rings (14.633), No. 5 on vault (14.566) and No. 6 on floor exercise (14.100). By mid-morning he had been pushed out of the race for vault and floor exercise, but was still within the race for the rings final.

Simone Biles and the ladies's team begin Sunday at 2:30 a.m. PT

Kohler wins rowing heat

Clayton's Kara Kohler made a direct impression in Paris on Saturday morning.

Kohler was bidding to grow to be the primary American woman to win a gold medal in the only sculls. She won her heat with a time of seven:32.46, qualifying for the quarterfinals early Sunday morning. Her time was the third-best among the many 30 competitors.

She got off the road slowly, but overtook Austrian Magdalena Lobnig within the second half of the race and pulled away with a lead of 6.93 seconds.

“It definitely gives me a confidence boost. I wanted to have a solid race to gain some confidence for the future,” Kohler told US Rowing. “It's definitely good to get them out there. Each race gets more exciting and the stakes are much higher. I think the most important thing is to stay present and remember how to row through all the excitement and adrenaline.”

Three other US teams advanced on the primary day of rowing competition.

Water polo starts hunt for gold medal

The U.S. women's water polo team is off to a beautiful start and is now aiming for its Olympic record: a fourth consecutive gold medal.

In a 15-6 victory over Greece, San Jose native and Stanford sophomore Jenna Flynn led the ladies with 4 goals, while Monte Vista High graduate and Stanford legend Maggie Steffens added two goals. Steffens is the all-time leading scorer on the Olympics.

Badminton team stumbles

Bay Area natives Vinson Chiu of Milpitas and Jennie Gai of Fremont lost their group match representing the U.S. badminton team, losing 2-0 to China. The U.S. has never won a medal in Olympic badminton.

Originally published: July 27, 2024 at 10:14 am

FREMONT – Unless a last-ditch effort is made to maintain the doors open, the county-run Irvington Library is about to shut at the tip of the month.

Library advocates have collected nearly 1,000 signatures to stop the closure, arguing that the branch provides essential services to South Fremont residents. But the county remains to be pursuing a plan to shut the power on July 31 and move certain services, akin to book pickup and the 3D printer space, to the central city library. Book lockers for dropping off books and a mobile bookmobile, a mobile library cart, will proceed to supply some library services near the Irvington branch, officials said.

“All the elementary schools and people who live in the neighborhood have to drive to Fremont to use the library,” said Anitha Shankar, a neighborhood resident who initiated the petition. “They should build more facilities and offer more free events for the kids instead of taking them away.”

Deb Sica, Alameda County's deputy librarian, said in an email that the county “has determined that the building, a temporary structure owned by the City of Fremont, has reached a point where it can no longer provide a sustainable space for library services.”

The city “intends to evaluate future recreational programs at the site,” she said. The library opened in 1971 and has “rarely been open more than one day a week” since 1997, Sica said. After the coronavirus pandemic, it reopened as a “limited makerspace with a small tool lending library and a reduced book collection,” she said.

“Popularity was not a deciding factor. The main reason for the closure is that the building can no longer sustain library operations,” Sica said.

Shankar argues that the branch is popular. Her two children have waited in line for greater than two hours lately simply to get free tickets to library events akin to a bubble show and a bird show. She said a mobile library and book lockers usually are not enough to fulfill her needs or those of her petitioners.

“At least in downtown Fremont, the facilities need to be expanded as the number of people, children, increases,” Shankar said. “We want the children to make friends at the library, meet new people and see our neighbors there.”

The constructing at 41825 Greenpark Drive was staffed by three regular employees who might be relocated to other facilities to assist with future library services in South Fremont. Other services formerly available in Irvington, akin to the tool collection, makerspace and 3D printer, might be moved to other libraries. The county may also expand the available makerspace within the principal library and create the Archimedes Makerspace, Sica said.

Two automated self-service book lockers may also soon be available in South Fremont on the Wally Pond Irvington Community Center and the Warm Springs Community Center to “provide modern and convenient options for picking up and returning books,” Sica said.

“We look forward to providing library services to South Fremont in new and exciting ways,” Sica said.

One of the library's advisory board members, Felix Lechner, recently resigned over the choice to shut the library, telling the town council at a public meeting that the advisory board was never informed of the closure. He told the council he had “lost the trust of this respected body.”

In an interview, Lechner said he was not against the closure, acknowledging that the constructing was over 50 years old and “something had to happen.”

“I found it unusual that the library commission was not consulted when the library was closed,” said Lechner. “I don't think the city administration was as caught off guard as I was. I think there were discussions in the city that I didn't know about.”

City Councilwoman Teresa Cox, who represents the South Fremont district where the library is situated, said she was “deeply saddened” to listen to of Lechner's resignation and has been in close contact with Shankar and the petitioners searching for to stop the library's closure. Cox's aunt, Effie Lee Morris, was the primary black president of the Public Library Association.

“I'm not just a city councilor. I grew up in libraries,” Cox said.

She said she asked the petitioners to send her some ideas about what they think should occur on the Irvington branch after it closes later this month.

With the variety of accomplished federal financial aid applications still at a record low, the U.S. Department of Education has launched a $50 million grant program to encourage more students to fill out its troubled forms.

“We are committed to closing the gap in FAFSA completion,” said Assistant Secretary of Education Cindy Marten. “The funding we’re announcing today will help states, districts and community-based groups construct capability and leverage their power to make sure that every student who needs help paying for faculty submits their FAFSA. “

For the primary time in greater than 40 years, the Department of Education has released a revision to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to make it easier for college students to use for and qualify for financial aid.

But what followed was a bureaucratic nightmare that affected tens of millions of scholars and 1000’s of faculties as many students were unable to finish and submit the shape as a consequence of problems with the applying.

To compound the issue, colleges and universities didn’t receive their students' FAFSA information from the Department of Education until late March. And additional errors within the calculations meant that a whole lot of 1000’s of previously submitted forms needed to be reprocessed.

Since January, greater than 30 issues have been reported with the brand new application. As of May, greater than a dozen issues remain and lots of students still haven’t been capable of submit their applications.

The money announced Monday comes too late to assist many students applying to school this fall, but should provide some relief for those applying next 12 months. The latest FAFSA student aid strategy provides as much as $50 million to scholarship recipients and is implemented by the Educational Credit Management Corporation, a Minnesota-based nonprofit organization that monitors student loan repayment and provides financial education.

The announcement also comes on the heels of a congressional hearing titled “FAFSA Fail,” where the Republican chairman of the House Higher Education Subcommittee, Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah, said the help proposal's “botched implementation” could hurt colleges and universities Upsetting a 20% drop in enrollment this 12 months.

Mark Kantrowitz, president of Cerebly, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in student financial aid, said on the hearing that “college enrollment declines could be worse than the pandemic, which could lead to the closure of some colleges.”

The Department of Education said the funds would primarily profit organizations currently working with schools and districts, in addition to those who have “strong relationships” with students and families and are capable of help reduce barriers and reduce FAFSA completion. increase submissions.

The department said its latest FAFSA Student Support Strategy funding will help schools and organizations hire advisors, counselors and coaches to assist students and families process their applications over prolonged evening, weekend and summer hours.

Funds may even help fund FAFSA submission clinics through partnerships with schools and districts and supply transportation assistance when needed. The program may even improve communication and help organizations use text messaging, phone calls and video conferencing in multiple languages ​​to assist families complete their forms.

The department said the investment builds on its existing efforts to assist students and families complete their FAFSA, including the FAFSA College Support Strategy – one other $50 million program launched in February 2024 and focused on the Providing funding and advice to less resourced colleges and supporting them process focused information on student financial support.

The Department of Education said nearly 9 million applications have been successfully submitted for the reason that latest forms were introduced on December 30. That's a 24% decline in comparison with last 12 months at the moment.