MAKING COLLEGE HAPPEN CSUN PROGRAM POINTS STUDENTS, FAMILIES TOWARD SUCCESS.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - For prospective college students like Jesus Jimenez, paying the in-state tuition rate instead of the higher out-of-state costs can mean the difference between being the first in his family to graduate from college and floundering in a dead-end job.

The 24-year-old Panorama City man was among thousands of San Fernando Valley residents who turned out Saturday for a daylong conference on college life at California State University, Northridge.

Jiminez said he discovered during a talk on college financing that he qualifies to pay the lower tuition, even though he is not yet a U.S. citizen, because he attended high school in this country for more than three years.

``That would really help a lot,'' said Jiminez about the state legislation, passed last year, which opened the door for thousands of immigrants who have attended school for years in this country to pay in-state tuition fees. ``I heard about the law on the news but I didn't know much about it.''

CSUN officials say making college a possibility for prospective students like Jiminez is the point of the day's ``College: Making it Happen'' family conference.

This is the eighth year the college has hosted the event, with seminars on coping with adolescence, preparing for college academics, making learning part of the home environment and financing options.

``We can give students all the information they need, but the bottom line is they have to be motivated and determined,'' said Fidel Ramirez, associate director of CSUN's Student Outreach and Recruitment Services Department. ``Jesus is an example of a student that is full of determination.''

Jiminez said he wants to go to college because he doesn't feel he's reaching his potential in his current job in the shipping department of a local warehouse.

``I know I could do way better than this if I went to college,'' he said. ``I wish I knew about this law last year.''

< For many parents attending, sending their first child to college was among the most important goals in their lives.

Jennifer Colon, 30, of Sun Valley attended the seminar for mothers and daughters with her 12-year daughter, Regina, a sixth-grader at Walter Reed Middle School.

Like others there, Colon said Regina would be the first in her family to graduate from college.

``Her father and I have made some mistakes, and I just want her to achieve way more than we did,'' said Colon. ``I don't want her to go through the same cycle we went through.''

Colon said the workshops gave her a better idea of how to obtain college scholarships and how to make the home a place of learning.

``The whole idea was to get her involved in things she's interested in and make time for her to pursue them,'' she said. ``This program really helps families like ourselves find out what opportunities are out there for our children.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Ballet Folklorico Xochipilli dancers perform for parents and would-be students at CSUN on Saturday as part of a program for the college-bound.

(2) Saturday's program was designed to inform would-be students and give them a feel for CSUN.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer