USD and UCSD Kick off Year Three of the Californians for All College Corps Program With a Joint Swearing-in Ceremony

“As a Californians for All College Corps Fellow, I am committed to make change in my community.”

The words echoed across the UC Forum, with more than 200 College Corps Fellows from USD and UCSD taking the oath to serve their communities as part of Governor Newsom’s statewide initiative.

The initiative, launched in 2020, provides students with $10,000 a year in exchange for 450 hours of community service in the areas of K-12 education, food insecurity, climate change, and community health.

On October 4th, the third cohort was sworn in at an event led by Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward, who represents San Diego’s 78th District. 

“The College Corps program has just been a wild success, an investment in our future and a way to be able to solve a few things at the same time. One, be able to support our college students with debt-free pathways to on-time graduation, be able to give hands-on experience to a lot of the issues that are really present in our communities, and help inspire them maybe to get more involved,” said Ward.

Statewide, more than 3,000 college students will embark on the volunteering journey this year alone, here at USD, 130 were selected for the program. UCSD, the only other school in San Diego chosen to participate in College Corps, swore in 159 eager students who attended the joint event. 

Vinny Seepaul, director of the USD College Corps program, says the swearing-in ceremony reminds students that they’re not alone in this process.

“While they are doing service out in the community, they’re getting professional development, personal development, and social-emotional learning programming from the university.”

Since its inception, just under 200 USD students have gone through the College Corps program, completing over 80,000 hours of community service in San Diego. This means nearly $2 million in financial assistance has been distributed to students.

“Financially, it was a real help,” says Briana Gaurdado, who was part of the program for two years. In year three, she’s now a USD alumna and currently serves as an executive assistant for USD’s College Corps, helping others who, like her, are learning to navigate a busy college schedule.

“The pay was amazing, it was a great opportunity to help me financially here at USD. It reduces your loans here in college, so you don’t have to pay for that later.”

Guardado, who’s always been passionate about community services, says resume-building while helping others is something you just can’t pass up.

“In the end, it will benefit you, one with experience, two, it shows that you’re doing work out in the community, you have that experience out in the community, and that’s what future jobs are looking for.”