College Goal Sunday is a program designed to help students clear the paperwork and financial hurdles to higher education. It’s of particular importance to low-income and first-generation college goers. The program began in Indiana in 1989, but has since expanded nationwide.

College Goal Sunday in Alaska was initially made possible through a three-year grant from the Lumina Foundation awarded to the Coalition of Alaskans Supporting Higher Education (CASHE).

CASHE is proud to announce the receipt of a second Lumina Foundation Grant for the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Alaska College Goal Sunday events.

The first Alaska College Goal Sunday took place on February 13, 2005. At that time, financial aid experts in seven communities provided assistance to 690 college bound students and families. Alaska’s program success since the inaugural event has been nationally recognized. By 2007, the program had expanded to 17 sites in 15 communities across the state, reaching more than 1600 students and families.

CASHE is a unique public/private partnership formed by the Alaska Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) Education Consortium, and the University of Alaska, to identify opportunities and implement programs to increase access to higher education for Alaska’s low-income families and their children.