<p>Has anyone had a similar experience and if so, what did you do?</p>
<p>Our son got into UCLA and was very pleased. He'd like to go there. Their financial aid award really left something to be desired. The amount we would pay is several thousand more than our estimated family contribution (EFC). I was also surprised to see that there was no Perkins loan or work-study offered, because I was sure we'd qualify for both.</p>
<p>He also got into UCSC, his second choice, and today we just were informed of their financial aid. There's about a couple thousand more in grants. There's also a Perkins loan and work-study. It's much better. The amount we would pay is much closer to our EFC.</p>
<p>We're confused by such a better offer at one UC than the other -- several thousand dollars. Has anyone ever had this experience? Is there any hope of negotiating better aid at his first-choice school? If so, how would we do this?</p>
<p>Perkins Loans and work-study are discretionary - each school has only a limited amount of each available, and often more students are eligible than can be funded.</p>
<p>You can always contact UCLA to see if they’d match UCSC’s offer - it can’t hurt anything - but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the info, polarscribe. I had no idea those were discretionary. I thought if kids qualify, they qualify. After all, those are federal programs, and all of us pay our taxes. That’s really odd.</p>
<p>If he still wants to go to ucla I heard that u can write a letter to the financial aid and tell them the situation saying that what was provided wasn’t enough and After reviewing they could give him more. You should look into it.</p>
<p>Just because something is federal aid doesn’t mean that all that qualify will get it. Pell is an entitlement, the other aids aren’t.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s quite common for the lesser UCs to offer better pkgs to those who are beyond Pell and have strong stats. They do that so as to hope to get stronger students to their campuses. </p>
<p>Since you’re not happy with your UCLA pkg that suggests to me that you’re beyond Pell and were gapped. Pretty common for those who don’t have low EFCs. </p>
<p>You can contact UCLA and ask for a review, but frankly, I’d be surprised if they’d offer more.</p>
<p>edited to add… I see that your AGI is right beyond B&G. You should read the very recent thread about that issue. Famlies like yours get hit really hard by UCs…making just a bit beyond $80k. Crazy that if you earned a little bit less, you’d get a big grant to cover UC-wide fees.</p>
<p>My twins applied to several UC schools. The differerance in the offers between schools amazed me. The offers when compared to each others? : you would think two differerent families applied. Ended up at USC for one. It was way less expensive than the public UC schools.
Not complaining all offers made it affordable for me, just some were better with less debt at the end.</p>
<p>What is your EFC? Perkins loans are not offered at all schools and are generally for low income students. Work study is also generally reserved for low income students.</p>
<p>Yes, as others have said, it can vary all over the place. You can talk to one school and bring up the other’s package and see what they can do, but often, all of the money is gone and it’s rare, unless there has been an outright mistake that any substantial changes are made. But it does not hurt to try, and even a little bit can help.</p>
<p>To explain why the amount you would pay is higher than your EFC - this is how I’ve heard it explained. The UC system pulls out the parent part of the EFC and adds to it $9400 for the student’s contribution. This amount is a bit lower at some campuses, but that’s the general expectation from each student. The idea is that it can come roughly half from work and half from loans. Together, this student contribution and the parent part of the federal EFC constitute the expected family contribution to a UC.</p>
<p>Is the work study that important? I mean can’t you kid get an on campus job any way to bring in that same money? I have heard at my D’s school that it’s easier to get a job if you don’t have work study yet the pay is the same. If that is true at UCLA, then the difference becomes a bit smaller.</p>
<p>TK, work study has a lot of benefits. In some places, lower taxes. Some jobs are work-study only. Work study funds don’t count as income for EFC purposes next year.</p>
<p>For example, two of the work study jobs that I’ve done (my former job at AmericaCounts/AmericaReads and my current job at a domestic violence shelter) are only open to work study students. On the other hand, my two current non-work study jobs pay more than my work study jobs.</p>
<p>It also seems that work study eligible students have an easier time finding jobs.</p>
<p>I did not think the UCs guarantee to meet financial need. Anytime, with any schools that do not make that guarantee, it’s going to be a total guess as to what anyone gets in aid packages. They can choose to gap you completely in terms of their own money that they give out, or meet your needs in full. Heck, throw in merit awards, and they can meet your needs and then some if you are a top applicant.</p>
<p>Work study has no tax advantages. The proceeds just don’t get counted as income for next year’s financial aid purposes. If the school is in an area that has lots of job possibilities, one might even find a better job in terms of fit and hours than what is available in the work study log. My SIL’s niece has two jobs at college right now. One is a work study job she found by accident, and asked for it at Financial AId since she did have unmet need and the job was sitting there open with no one claiming it. She got it. But it is only a few hours a week–fits well in her schedule and she likes it, but she wants more hours and money, so she works a second job. But she is buoyant because they like her enough at the WS job that she will get it again next year, with as much WS funds as they can scrape up and the department will find more hours for her off the WS books as well. It’ll be a true part time job for her then. Once you are at a school, intrepid students can scout out opportunities like this. My son was life guarding at the university pool for several dollars an hour more than what the top WS pay is, at his school.</p>
<p>cpt, my earnings statements would disagree with you. For example, my federal taxes were much lower and I paid no city taxes on my work-study earnings like I did in my private jobs. Just my experience.</p>
<p>Look up work study. It says that earnings are fully taxable for it. Does your W2 also reflect this? Perhaps Kelsmom can chime in as to what the advantages of work study are in terms of taxes. When I just researched it, the federal site read as I just stated.</p>
<p>I don’t know why there is a difference, Roman. But I just looked up what the advantages of getting federal Work Study as opposed to a regular job. The sites all say that Work Study is taxed just like the regular job, and that the only financial advantage is that the proceeds do not count as income for the subsequent year’s financial aid.</p>
<p>Now there are a lot of other reasons why work study could be advantageous. For the young lady I mentioned, it’s a great job, an office job on campus and she loves it. Getting to know some people in a field similar to hers is also an advantage and it can be a stepping stone for future jobs and opportunities. But some work study positions are side by side and identical to those not being paid through that program. Makes no difference at all except for the inclusion of that income in financial aid consideration, which can be a big issue if a student is on the cusp for certain cut offs. You don’t want to lose PELL eligibility, for instance, because you worked a job. In that case, getting a work study job can make a huge difference.</p>
<p>I spoke with financial aid and they politely but totally dismissed us, as several of you predicted. There will be no Perkins loan, no additional state grant, and no work-study.</p>
<p>It just seems wrong that a family can qualify for these supposed low-income programs at one school and be denied them at another school in the same state system. Everyone’s taxes pay for these federal programs and state-funded universities. They shouldn’t be handed out according to some lottery system, or as a means to lure you to a school. I’ve been chipping in my tax dollars to help send other people’s children to school for many years. Gladly, I might add. I can’t see a much better use for tax dollars than education.</p>
<p>Now it’s my kid’s turn to be helped, and “Oops the state is broke, the feds are broke – so sad for you.”</p>
There will be no Perkins loan, no additional state grant, and no work-study.</p>