I have received my admission to SLO (woo hoo!) but my financial aid section is still pending. Does anyone who got in last year or a few years earlier know when these packages are released? I was offered a full ride to a different CSU but have to accept/deny that offer by April 3rd, so I’m hoping that SLO releases their financial aid decisions before that!
What Cal State did you get a full ride to? Congrats!
And what major
@catwoman101 thank you, and Fresno State Smittcamp Honors as a political science major. Financial aid is pretty high on my priorities, so I’d rather know sooner than later.
My d is Accepted to cal poly. We are out of state tuition. The financial Aid package has me taking out a parent loan for 20,000. Can anyone else speak to their financial aid award? This seems a little high, for a parent to take out 20,000 a year. They also have my d taking out an additional 5500 in student loans per year. Are Efc is 8,000. Any input would be appreciated.
@kooala2: Cal Poly SLO is a state school so offers little to no financial aid to out of state applicants. OOS students should expect to pay the full cost of attendance. Your FA package is typical for an OOS student.
@kooala2 @Gumbymom I am an in-state student who received the exact same financial aid package: no free money, just loans (ugh). I qualify for the middle-class scholarship, so I was at least expecting that to show up, but no. UC Davis gave me about 11k per year of free money, so I was surprised that SLO offered none. Can anyone speak to their financial aid policy or if I can expect to receive anything other than loans from them?
@notw245: The CSU’s tend to give less FA since the CSU’s were originally established to help educate local students at lower costs than the UC’s. With the local area being emphasized and the commuter mentality, housing costs are usually not calculated into the FA packages for the Cal States. That said, unless you qualify for a Federal Pell Grant and/or Cal grant, most likely you will only be offered the Federal student loans and Parent plus loans.
What is your FASFA EFC and Family income? Did you run the Net Price calculator for SLO since this will give you a good estimate of your costs?
@Gumbymom My EFC is supposed to be 15k, and the net price calculator says I should get 5k per year, which still leaves the cost at 20k per year. And yes the housing at SLO is so expensive, more than the tuition 
Wish I lived close by because tuition is so low at CSU’s.
@Gumbymom also SLO’s net price calculator is weird because if you make anything over 100k, they state that you will receive no free money. But middle class scholarships are supposed to be applied to CSUs and UCs?
@notw245: SLO like all CSU’s and UC’s do not meet need. Your EFC is the minimum that you will be expected to pay, so with your student loan of $5500 for Freshman year, you will be expect to come up with the rest.
Although UC Davis gave you $11,000/year, if you take the $5500 Federal student loan, you are still expected to pay between $16-18K based on their cost of attendance of around $34K/year.
Unless you can commute to either campus, you are looking at student loans and possibly parent plus loans. You and your parents have any college savings or a 529 plan to help with costs?
@Gumbymom Davis did meet some need, 8k out of the 11k that they offered was a university grant based on income. As stated at the beginning of the forum, I was offered a full ride to CSUF, so unless I can pay as I go, I plan on accepting that scholarship. Student loans are a no-go, both my parents and I are against them. Also, I feel as though the EFC is misleading because that’s the number you are expected to pay per year, but you still have to make the difference up with loans, which you will end up paying for anyway upon graduation.
@notw245: Definitely take the full ride. Graduating debt free is the best thing you can do for yourself and your family. I completely understand your reasoning. I was a full pay parent for both son’s and they were able to graduate debt free due to my savings in their 529 plan. Best of luck and you are making a wise choice.