i am a transferring student and will attend ucd this fall. i awarded cal grant b at cc and i got 1600$ each year. My counselor suggested me to return the money of my cal grant in order to keep the year eligibility at uc. so i returned about 3.2k to my financial office, now i still have 2 year eligibility remain. however, i come from a low income family, my tuition is fully covered by university grant. my webgrantforstudent shows that i award about 13900 (12240 for tution and fee , 1656 for living expense) at ucd. i know the 12240$ will replace the university grant dollar for dollar, but however about the 1656$ access awarded? i do some research, the webs all says this 1656$ is for students using in transportation, book supplies, housing,etc… it does not make sense to me if i get this access award but reduct my university grant for tuition and fee. i also email my financial aid office and ask them about this issue. They just told me that cal grant is interchangeable with university grant, if i award cal grant b, the cal grant b fund will deduct my university grant dollar for dollar. And i says i know the cal grant b has 12240$ which is for tuition replace my university grant, but how about the access award (1656$). the officer just gave me the same answer she just told me. i also look up some pervious post . people just says cal grant b has money for tuition and 1600$ for book supplies, living expense… but they don’t mention does this money reduces the university grant. will i get this 1600$ in extra but not reduce the university grant? if not , i will so regret to return the 3200$ at cc.
@ucbalumnus What do you know about this aspect of UC grants and Cal Grants?
I’m surprised that the UCs will let Calif students choose because it costs the UC’s more money this way. They usually award UC grants while waiting for the Cal Grants to kick in, and then the UC grants usually either go away or diminish. Now it sounds like students are choosing the UC grant, declining Cal Grant to “preserve”.
I don’t know why someone at a UC would need to preserve since if they take a 5th year to graduate, then the UC grants kick in…right?
when i was in city college, they let me “decline” cal grant b and use it later on in university. i am not sure if we can do that at university or not. dose any one receive cal grant b stipend (about 1.6k)? dose this fund reduce the university grant?
My best guess is that your UCD grant will be reduced by the entire amount of the Cal Grant B, including the $1,656. The $1,656 is part of your Cal Grant B - and it’s to help you pay for books, not living expenses. You need to speak with someone at the UCD financial aid office. I know they didn’t answer your question the last time you called, so you need to call back . . . and don’t hang up until ALL your questions are answered!
If you don’t have money to pay for food and housing and UCD, that’s a problem. You should have federal loans in your financial aid package to help with those expenses. If you don’t, ask the financial aid office if you can get additional funds.