<p>thanks for the response.</p>
<p>I had a feeling I would have to get a hold of them, I havn’t been able to find an email contact for the schools I applied to. Is there a general UC financial aid email? Or should I contact specific schools over the phone?</p>
<p>My mom works 2 full time teaching jobs at a community college and a private university, as well as works in the ICU a couple of weekends a month and also does Home Care on Call. So she does do that, and sorry, she does’nt have 80k saved up (it was a loan) lol. Point is a 25k tuition is a huge hit when you have no savings and you have past bills/depts to pay.</p>
<p>I know your mom works three jobs and all that, but $180k is still really huge money. If she’s got major bills/debts to pay… I think that may suggest a larger problem with financial management. </p>
<p>$25k in tuition and living expenses is less than 15% of your household’s total income. If your mother was forced to take a 15% pay cut, would the family be starving and out on the street? I really doubt it.</p>
<p>Look, if you can’t support a family of four with $155,000 per year… You’re spending too much money one way or another. I get that your mom works hard, but that’s really a separate issue. She works hard, and she’s compensated for it. If you don’t like the UC’s system of financial aid, which favors students making less than $80,000, you’re free to attend a private university. </p>
<p>The bottom line is, education costs money, and your family really should be able to pay for it.</p>
<p>The state is about to go bankrupt and they deicide to provide free tuition to those under 80k? Doesn’t sound like a bright idea to me…</p>
<p>Not really. They’re raising the sticker price for tuition, but making it free for students whose families earn less than $80k. You might call it a highly progressive tuition system, where in the past it was much more regressive. 20 years ago tuition was $1,000 for everybody. Now it’s $12,000 for wealthier students, and $0 for middle-class and lower-class (for lack of a better term) students. </p>
<p>It actually makes a lot of sense if you really think about it. The students paying the full $12,000 would likely be attending a more expensive private university in the absence of a public system, while the students who are least able to pay, pay nothing. A fairly significant percentage of UC undergraduates are still relatively wealthy–40% come from families making more than $90,000 a year, and 15% (27,000) are from families making more than $180,000. When you consider that California’s median household income is roughly $50,000, it becomes clear that the relatively wealthy benefit disproportionately from the UC system.</p>
<p>So you want to punish them for being wealthy? I’m a super liberal but even I think that placing financial burden on those above 80k is ludicrous in these times. I’m fine with a discounted rate, but free?? Thats ridiculous, especially considering the additional 500mil in cuts coming up in the fall</p>
<p>I’m actually a libertarian with a fairly prominent conservative streak. I look at it from the perspective of choice. There are plenty of private higher education institutions, some great, some average, and some mediocre. They are free to price their tuition as they wish. Any student is free to attend a private institution. </p>
<p>We can debate the merits of having a public higher education system at all. However, if you’re going to have one, its purpose is to help students who would not otherwise be able to attend college. This means lower tuition for poor students, as well as other programs to help them. Wealthier students should benefit as well–they pay the most in taxes–but not as much as poor students. If they can get a better deal elsewhere, they are free to attend a private school</p>
<p>This differs from a highly progressive tax system because of choice: students have one.</p>
<p>Look, the going rate for a top-notch education in the private sector is $40,000. If students who are willing and able to pay that $40,000 instead pay $30,000 at a public school, while students who are not able to afford that $40,000 (or whatever $40,000 minus whatever financial aid covers) are able to attend a public school for free, who loses?</p>
<p>Can someone confirm that independent students making under 80k qualify for Blue & Gold?</p>
<p>[UCSB</a> Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/Bulletins/BlueAndGoldOpportunityPlan.asp]UCSB”>http://www.finaid.ucsb.edu/Bulletins/BlueAndGoldOpportunityPlan.asp)</p>
<p>Under eligibility it says:</p>
<h1>Have income below $70,000 (as determined for federal need-based aid programs). This is a measure of parents income for dependent students. It is a measure of students (and spouses, if applicable) income for independent students.</h1>
<p>I am a 30 year old independent student and I qualify for Blue and Gold.</p>
<p>Are we automatically considered for the Blue and Gold Program once we file for fafsa?</p>
<p>Or must we fill out other forms. Any help is appreciated! Thank you!!</p>
<p>I think it’s pretty much automatic. If you qualify (they use the info from your app/FAFSA/ETC.) then you should be fine. give them a call if you have questions :)</p>
<p>Is the ceiling absolute, or can you appeal if you’re only a few thousand above it?</p>
<p>I bet you could try, but I think it probably is what it is. You can probably still qualify for some aid but not all of it.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add something here. Although kids with parents making over $80,000 can theoretically pay for their education, many do not. I now see an unfair advantage of lower income families. The kid from the wealthy family will have to take out a loan and the kid from the poorer family does not. One will graduate without debt and one will have possibly a huge debt. As tough as it is finding a job now, the one who had to take a loan is stressing like crazy while the one who got a free ride is just chilling and both will probably earn the same income too (lets say they have the same major).</p>
<p>Still an unfair system.</p>
<p>Does anyone know what happens if you did not file the Cal Grant GPA verification form by the March 2 deadline? I recently discovered that my school’s administration had no idea what I was talking about when I asked them to send it in and thus they never bothered to deal with it. FASFA has been dealt with however.</p>
<p>So pay for it your self, don’t put the burden on your mother.</p>
<p>im 22, black, unemployed, and a full time student. i only have a maternal mother, and she has been unemployed since 2006, she just recently ran out of her unemployment extensions, and has absolutely 0 income, we have never had “money”, so is this any relevance to me and can someone explain how?</p>
<p>i am going to TAG to UC Davis an maybe merced and was just wondering how this may benefit me.</p>
<p>appreciate the replies ahead of time.</p>
<p>@ Conceptj: Then whats fair? lmao Even the 100K families getting a free education so they can get richer and richer??</p>
<p>@mypinkfriday</p>
<p>First, don’t go to Merced. It’s not worth your time yet (it may be in 10 or 20 years).</p>
<p>Blue & Gold is simple. If a student comes from a family that makes less than $80k, UC commits that the student will not pay tuition, period. This is after all other forms of aid–Cal Grants, Pell Grants, etc. UC will fill any gap.</p>
<p>Often UC will cover more. I’m near the $80k limit, and I got $16k in aid (not counting loans) at UCR and $14k at UCSD. So they basically cover all of tuition, then $4k and $2k, respectively, of my on-campus room and board.</p>
<p>As a very, very low-income student, you’ll be in good shape from a financial aid perspective.</p>