Scaling Student Financial Wellness Across the CSU

This article was published by the California State University on May 27, 2026.

Across the California State University system, a model for supporting student financial success is rapidly expanding. What began as a single-campus initiative at Chico State has grown into a seven-campus effort—demonstrating how the CSU can leverage its “systemness” to scale effective programs, meet urgent student needs and create meaningful career pathways.

Chico State lecturer Jaycob Arbogast launched the Financial Wellness Clinic (FWC) in 2019 to help students, and sometimes community members, navigate everyday financial challenges. Today, the model has expanded to Chico, Fullerton, Long Beach, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Sacramento and Sonoma.

This growth has been made possible through a combination of donor funding and systemwide coordination in partnership with the CSU Chancellor’s Office. A $315,000 grant from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund supported the expansion, enabling campuses to adopt a shared framework while tailoring services to their local communities.

Monica Martinez, program director for College Success with the Haas, Jr. Fund, said its support for the expansion reflects its commitment to solutions that enable more first-generation and low-income students to find an affordable path to a bachelor’s degree. “Institutions and systems have a responsibility to support students to graduate on time and with as little debt as possible,” she said. “The expansion of these clinics shows how we can scale promising answers to help more students stay in college and cross the finish line to a degree.”

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