<p>Hi, I'm currently a broke college student attending SMC. My parents have no money to spare due to the fact that a lot of unexpected events have transpired & it leaves them with not a single dime to spare. I've had no luck finding employment which leaves me feeling useless and disappointed. I was wondering it would be possible to go to the school I attend to and collect my Calgrant to pay for my Spring semester.</p>
<p>Did you get a CalGrant for Fall '11 semester?</p>
<p>I received an award letter saying I did but never actually received the actual CalGrant.</p>
<p>And you attended and completed classes in the Fall semester? If so, you need to take your award letter to your financial aid office and ask how to obtain your funds. Did you list the community college you are attending on your FAFSA? If not, log back into your FAFSA for 2011-2012 and be sure your community college is included on your FAFSA.</p>
<p>The CalGrant is awarded through your school of attendance’s financial aid office.</p>
<p>Yeah, I completed my Fall semester and took all the necessary steps. This was back when my family had some financial stability. Until now.
So should I go to the financial aid office and ask if it would be possible to obtain the funds to pay for my Spring semester?</p>
<p>I am not sure I understand what happened: could it be that your CalGrant was placed in your student account and your fees have been paid using the CalGrant funds? Or did you pay your fees to attend SMC out-of-pocket?</p>
<p>If you received an award letter saying you qualified for CalGrant but did not communicate with the financial aid office to receive your funds, YES, you should immediately go into the financial aid office with your award letter in hand and see if you can straighten it out. CalGrant has very strict and specific rules about putting the award on reserve, so you may no longer be able to access it. Again, was your school of attendance Fall '11 included on the 11-12 FAFSA?</p>
<p>Good luck</p>