API College Day is one of many Sacramento State outreach events for the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Shown: A high school outreach sponsored by Sac State's Full Circle Project. (Sacramento State/Jessica Vernone)

About 800 young people and their teacher chaperones are expected to take part in Sacramento State’s first “API College Day” for members of the region’s diverse Asian and Pacific Islander community.

API College Day is scheduled for 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Friday, March 29, in the University Union Ballroom.

The free event is part of Sac State’s broad efforts to encourage students from traditionally under-represented groups to attend college.

About 23 percent of Sac State students identify as API, a diverse set of communities that includes more than 20 different ethnic groups that represent a wide range of economic and cultural backgrounds, said Chao Vang of Sac State’s Student Academic Success and Educational Equity Programs.

At API College Day, students from around the region will take part in sessions on topics including the admissions and selection process and financial aid, Vang said. Many attendees are on track to be the first members of their families to attend college, he said.

Younger students will attend presentations on health and wellness, financial wellness, and college and career readiness, while older attendees will learn about transferring from community colleges and leadership development.

“They’ll be getting literature and lots of other information from a variety of facilitators about college,” Vang said. “This has been a campus-wide effort to make this day come to fruition. We want them to feel welcome, so that hopefully they’ll come to Sac State and stay at Sac State and eventually work in the Sacramento region.”

He said the workshop is modeled after the successful Feria de Educacion, which is designed for Spanish speakers looking ahead to college.

The efforts reflect President Robert S. Nelsen’s vision of Sac State as a Sacramento anchor institution that aims to have a positive impact within the community at large, Vang said.

“We want to create a pipeline for students to come to Sac State,” he said. “We want parents to say, ‘I want my kid to go to Sac State,’ and we want students to know that we are an institution that can make their dreams come true.”

Sac State is a designated Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Institution, which makes the campus eligible for federal grants and other support to help ensure success among students who identify with those groups. – Cynthia Hubert