Counselors Available For Seniors Grappling With College

LOS ANGELES, CA — With high school graduations looming during the coronavirus shutdown, many seniors are rethinking their college plans. In Los Angeles, many have become their family's breadwinner and caretaker for younger siblings. The Los Angeles Unified School District will now make counselors available to help students grapple with big college decisions as well as the application process, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Thursday.

"Hear me when I say that we don't want COVID-19 to take lives, but we also don't want it to steal your dreams," the mayor said.

According to Garcetti, some students have declined acceptance to colleges because their families need them at home.

A new survey by researchers at USC this week found that the pandemic is forcing 15% of all seniors to rethink their college plans. LA students can describe their problems and concerns with going to college once the pandemic subsides at lacompact.org/covidcollegeconnect.

They will be contacted within 48 hours by a counselor from their high school, a representative from the college they were admitted to or other professionals to help them navigate the admissions process, Mayor Eric Garcetti said during his daily coronavirus update.

Garcetti said the coronavirus pandemic may not be the best time for some students to leave their families and attend college outside the Los Angeles area because some of them have become primary family income earners and caretakers of their siblings while their parents struggle to find gainful employment.

Garcetti said the decision to stay home to help the family or to go to college is an "agonizing dilemma."

"For many, this would have been a tough call anyway, but COVID-19 makes it even more excruciating," Garcetti said.

The assistance is being provided by the L.A. Compact, an alliance of leaders from the education, business, government, labor and nonprofit sectors seeking to improve education.

Garcetti also said the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles received a $5 million donation to help fund another 20,000 Angeleno Cards to help people who have been financially burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.

This will increase the number of cards for people who have been affected financially by the pandemic from 45,000 to 60,000.

The application period for the Angeleno Cards was April 14-16 and they ran out quickly, according to Garcetti. The debit cards are prepaid with $700, $1,100 or $1,500 depending on the size of a qualified household.

Garcetti said he would not take questions from reporters during the coronavirus update about the announcement earlier Thursday that he will be among four co-chairs of the Vice Presidential Selection Committee for former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

By ERIC HEINZ, City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.