At the beginning of March, Peralta Community College District sent out an announcement about a survey hosted by The RP Group. The main goal of their survey dubbed “2025 Real College California Survey” is to get input from all community college students here in California. It is a research project aiming to give students a chance to voice their opinion on how their college has assisted them on their academic journey. Completing the survey will help The RP Group and California Community Colleges, including the four Peralta Colleges, to better understand how much aid community college students need and where. It’s also an opportunity to win one of twenty $250 gift cards that are being awarded to students who provide their emails. And I just found out that Dr. Tammeil Gilkerson, the Peralta Community College District Chancellor, is generously donating another ten $100 gift cards for a drawing just for students at the Peralta Colleges who complete the survey!
There are two versions of the survey, English and Spanish. The survey started by asking me if I was 18 years or older. I spent about five to ten minutes on the survey and the questions were relatively simple. It asks you to select what college hosts the majority of your classes, if you’re a full or part-time student, and how you performed academically last semester. If you started college in the Spring of 2025, it gives you the option to select “No Grade”. Moving on, it asks you how you pay for your college – loans, work-study programs, Pell grants, etc. – and if you are employed and how many hours you work if so.
In the next few pages of the survey, there are questions surrounding food and housing insecurity, inquiring about your forms of income, etc. Rest assured that The RP Group takes your privacy very seriously. When you open the link to the survey, they have a paragraph detailing what will happen to your completed survey and where it will be stored. You always have the option to remain anonymous. There is a question at the end of the survey that asks if you’d like to provide your student ID number to better identify patterns within students, however you are not obligated to fill this section out to submit your responses. If you do choose to provide your student ID, your responses will only be shared with the college you selected at the beginning of the survey.
Filling out the 2025 Real College California Survey will benefit your community college by letting your voice be heard. Your college is always trying to find ways of helping students along on their academic journey, whether that be helping with finances, food and housing services, counseling, and so much more. Your college will get a better idea of where they need to focus resources, and also see how their students feel about the current support that they are receiving. Not only will you be benefiting your college, but you also have a chance to win a gift card of $100 or $250 if you provide your email at the end of the survey. There are at least 30 gift cards available so enter while you still can. We hope to hear your voice!
