Sacramento students and parents interested in learning more about preparation for university now have another place to turn. The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) at UC Davis has organized a series of seven informational meetings -- four in Sacramento churches on Sunday afternoons and three in community centers on weekday evenings through May 20. The community-based meetings are a new effort by the program to reach beyond its traditional sphere of operation in schools and to enable working parents to attend its information sessions. The meetings in the churches are being sponsored by the Sacramento Observer newspaper and the evening presentations by the Greater Sacramento Urban League. "We really believe that education offers our children options that they must have and that are available to many other people," says Virgil Price, executive vice-president of the league. The sessions, designed to help students and their parents understand the school and college systems, will include information on topics ranging from academic preparation and the benefits of a college education to financial aid and scholarships. They supplement another series of meetings being held in schools in Sacramento, Elk Grove and Woodland through March 21. "We want to help students to make the most of their high-school years and, when they graduate, to be competitively eligible for admission to the college or university of their choice," says Rocky Barrera, assistant director of EAOP. The outreach program works to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who are competitively eligible for admission to college or university. The program works with more than 6,000 students and their families at 70 schools in five counties.