Colleges, Job Training and Financial Aid

Colleges and Job Training Institutes:

Remember that high school counselors are there to help you, they’re trained to help applying to college. Talk to them about applying to the college you want to go to. Make sure you check each college’s financial office pages for scholarships.

Job Training

  • Santa Barbara-Workforce Resource Center: The WRC is a partnership of public, non-profit and community-based organizations. The mission at the WRC is to provide training, education and employment services for job seekers and employers in a single, customer-friendly system. Visit the online: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sbcounty. The WRC is open to any member of the public, with locations in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria:
  • Career Technical Education: https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ct/ A program of study that involves a multiyear sequence of courses that provide California students with a pathway to postsecondary education and careers.
  • The Employment Development Department (EDD) provides a range of employment and  training services in partnership with state and local agencies and organizations. These services are for job seekers, laid off workers, youth, individuals currently working, veterans, and people with disabilities. http://www.edd.ca.gov/Find_a_Job.htm
  • Mile High Youth Corps is an AmeriCorps grantee. Youth, over the age of 16,  who serve in the Corps are eligible to receive an AmeriCorps Education Award upon completion of a full term of service in one of our programs. The AmeriCorps education award can be used at any accredited educational institution.
  • National Park Service Student Conservation Association (SCA) sponsors camping or commuting crews and a nationwide network of young conservationists. SCA offers a range of programs for youth ages 15-19. There are local community or explore public lands across the country
  • Pathways Programs-provide paid employment opportunities with the Federal government for high school students, undergraduates, post-graduates and recent graduates.

Financial Aid for College:

Nonprofits and Service Opportunities

  • Global Peace Careers is a website dedicated to career related information in the sectors humanitarian aid and action, international development, peace and conflict studies, negotiation, conflict resolution, diplomacy and international law. On our website we collect and distribute information about entry level jobs, paid internships, affordable master degrees, free online courses and other opportunities. https://globalpeacecareers.com/ 
  • Peaceful Career Alternatives website has been developed with the support of multiple national, regional, and local peace and religious organizations to provide young people deciding how to begin their productive working lives with alternative ideas and options without entering military service. http://peacefulcareers.org/index.html
  • CAUSE (Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy): CAUSE Builds grassroots power to invoke social, economic and environmental justice for the people of California’s Central Coast Region through policy research, leadership development, organizing, and advocacy. www.causenow.org, (805) 658-0810
  • Pacific Pride Foundation: This organization has a youth program that focuses on youth who do not always experience safety in predominantly heterosexual and cisgender environments and whose unique needs are sometimes overlooked at other agencies. PacificPrideFoundation.org. SB: (805) 963-3636. SM: (805) 349-9947
  • Domestic Violence Solutions: Domestic violence affects all people in our society, not only the victim and the perpetrator. www.dvsolutions.org SB: (805) 963-4458. SM: (805) 925-2160
  • Youth Making Change: This group is a teen-led grant-making program providing young people with the opportunity to engage directly in organized philanthropy (giving grants). www.fundforsantabarbara.org/programs/youth-making-change SB: (805) 962-9164, SM: (805) 922-1707
  • Community Action Commission: Creating opportunities for Santa Barbara County families to achieve stability. CAC has been helping low-income people and changing lives since 1967. www.cacsb.org (805) 964-8857.
  • SB County Action Network: A countywide grassroots organization that works to promote social and economic justice, to preserve our environmental and agricultural resources, and to create sustainable communities. www.sbcan.org 805.563.0463
  • Conflict Solutions Center: Serves the communities of Santa Barbara County by providing: compassionate communication, appropriate dispute resolution and problem solving practices, restorative Justice, consultation, training, and mediation services. www.cscsb.org (805) 349-8943
  • AmeriCorps: AmeriCorps engages more than 75,000 Americans in intensive service each year at nonprofits, schools, public agencies, and community and faith-based groups across the country. Opportunities in Santa Barbara include Common Ground and United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County, and Partnership For Veterans & People Experiencing Homelessness,    www.sbcamericorps.org
  • Find Other Opportunities: View volunteer opportunities in Santa Barbara County: https://www.countyofsb.org/1884/Volunteer-Opportunities