<p>@ItsJustSchool Nope, it was $17k in grants, $8k self-help (loans+work study), and a $7k EFC (same as FAFSA). Yup, they both have larger budgets than other UC’s.</p>
<p>Other than Blue and Gold, each UC campus administers financial aid pretty separately, and with different resources. Berkeley and UCLA have much more resources for financial aid/scholarships than does a (relatively) newer campus like Irvine. Even Regents scholarships vary.</p>
<p>Very few students with zero EFCs are going to get enough financial aid to cover the full COA. At UCLA, I think it is perhaps only the special cohort of aged-out foster kids where some of the campuses promise to meet full need.</p>
<p>“Meet full need” is not a particularly useful guide, since each school defines “need” differently, and has a different student contribution (loans and work earnings). For example, USC, which claims to “meet full need”, tends to show higher net prices in its net price calculator than in-state UCLA, which apparently does not make such a claim.</p>
<p>Without any more information from the OP, anything else about the OP’s situation would be just speculation.</p>
<p>I agree that “meets full need” isn’t always useful. Some schools have padded COAs and some have bare-minimum COAs, so if the latter is “meeting need” you may still have some uncovered costs. However, a student attending the school with the padded COA may find that if he/she is thrifty, he/she may not need to have “need met.”</p>
<p>ok so I am providing the cost and aid I got for the 2010-2011 academic year at UC Irvine. I noticed that even with all the loans, I do not have enough to cover all the costs.</p>
<p>THIS IS THE COST WHICH ALSO LISTS THE PARENT AND STUDENT CONTRIBUTION THAT THEY ARE ASKING FOR. </p>
<pre><code>Direct Costs (Fees and Health Insurance) $11,927.25
</code></pre>
<ul>
<li> Books and Supplies $1,661.00</li>
<li> Living Expenses (Housing/Meals, Transportation, Personal) $14,443.00</li>
<li> Summer Expenses $4,317.00
Total UCI Cost: $32,348.25
(A)</li>
<li><br>
My Gift Aid
(Includes scholarships or grants)
$20,372.00
(B)
=<br>
My Net Cost
$11,976.25
(A minus B)</li>
</ul>
<p>Meeting My Net Cost
Student’s Share $8,068.25
Parent(s)’ Share $3,908.00
Total Resources to Meet My Net Costs $11,976.25
©</p>
<p>Total Resources to Meet My UCI Costs<br>
$32,348.25
(B plus C)</p>
<p>THIS IS THE AID I GOT FOR 2010-2011:</p>
<p>Academic Competitiveness Grant for First Year $500.00 Confirmed
Cal Grant A $10,302.00 Confirmed
Federal Pell Grant (01) $5,550.00 Confirmed
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant $500.00 Accepted
Outside Agency Award $500.00 Confirmed
UC Irvine Grant $3,020.00 Accepted
Total Gift Aid $20,372.00<br>
Student Work-Study
Federal Work Study $1,500.00<br>
Total Work Study $1,500.00<br>
Loans
Federal Perkins Loan $2,000.00<br>
Federal Direct Loan Subsidized (01) $3,485.00 Accepted
Federal Direct Loan Unsubsidized (01) $409.00 Accepted
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan Fee $33.00 Accepted
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan Fee $3.00 Accepted
Total Loans $5,930.00<br>
Other
Undergrad Health Insurance Waiver $695.25 Accepted
Total Other Aid $695.25
Total Aid in My Aid Award $28,497.25 </p>
<br>
<br>
<p>From what I see, they didn’t give you enough in loans. If you still have some uncovered costs, they can give you more in unsub loans. As a senior, you can have up to $7500 in Fed Direct Loans (not counting the Perkins). </p>
<p>You have been given about $28k in aid, and costs are about $32k. So, you should be able to get some more Fed Direct Unsub Loan.</p>
<p>So, contact your FA office and ask them to increase your unsub loan.</p>
<p>edit…now that I look again, it is saying that $4300 is for summer expenses. Is that for summer classes? If so, is your aid supposed to cover some of that, too? Anyway…ask if they can increase your Fed Direct unsub Loan. </p>
<br>
<br>
<p>that is a lot of gift aid considering that this is a state school. </p>
<p>Do you know for sure that the aid did not cover your cost? Did you actually spend $14443 on housing, meals, transportation, personal, and $4317 on summer expenses?</p>
<p>(As an aside, did you report the gift aid in excess of tuition and fees on your tax returns)?</p>
<p>Looks like the ~$4,000 in summer session fees are what makes your net price higher than what UCI’s net price calculator estimates. The net price calculator estimate is for an academic year excluding the summer session. It looks like UCI does not increase grant aid to cover summer session costs.</p>
<p>^^^
But can’t they increase unsub loans?</p>
<p>It looks to me like they shorted her $600. Is that right? In addition, there is an expected family contribution (“Parents share”) of $3908. Is this your 5th year at UCI, then? Have your loans been about $6,000/year every year, or have they increased? It seems that they bump up the loan amounts in Junior year.</p>
<p>ok, but this is from my FIRST year at UC Irvine which was back in 2010. I should have asked about this during my first year. I feel like they should have given me more loans 
Usually students take out loans to buy food clothes, etc. I do not have any money left to buy books after I use all of my loans for food and housing. None of my other low income friends have to take out all their loans and they lived in the same housing and ate meal at the commons.</p>
<p>Again, did your parents kick in the EFC of $3,908.00? See Part (C) below from your post #24:</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Meeting My Net Cost
Student’s Share $8,068.25
Parent(s)’ Share $3,908.00
Total Resources to Meet My Net Costs $11,976.25
(C)</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Were you given ANY loan money for that summer class? </p>
<p>For frosh year, your loan amount would be lower, but not that low. However, if you were given loan money for that summer class, that is why.</p>
<p>Why aren’t you earning money over the summer? your low-income friends may have worked/saved over the summer.</p>
<p>It’s not a good idea anyway to be borrowing for food and clothes. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But did those other students also attend a summer session, which you apparently did?</p>
<p>Can you show us your aid pkg for your other years?</p>
<p>And how much have you been earning over the summers?</p>
<p>You need to set up an appointment with a financial aid officer and have a sit down discussion bringing all of your paperwork there. NOt that it is likely you will get any adjustment for prior years but so you can understand your packages and if there is something fixable for this year, it can be addressed. </p>
<p>We can guess all day about why your package may differ from others. First of all Irvine does not meet full need for everyone. It simply does not, and it didn’t meet yours. Secondly, you have summer sessions, and even colleges that guarantee to meet full need do not tend to include summer school in that guarantee. You want to go in the summer, you pay. If you include the summer session in your planning, the school might stretch your entitlements over the regular year and the summer, but they often won’t give you a dime for the summer. Not a thin dime. There are exceptions, yes, my son’s school was one of them where they offered one free summer class. But that didn’t include any room, board or other expenses. </p>
<p>But clearly, this has been worrying you for several years now. Get the answers from the only people who can specifically address your particular case, a financial aid officer at your school.</p>
<p>Good advice from @cptofthehouse. One thing, though. People are saying that UCI did not meet your full aid 4 years ago in this example. However, when I look at your post #24, it appears to me that they DID meet full need (including loans) INCLUDING the summer.</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me how they did not? The difference between the cost of attendance and the financial aid provided was $3,908.00, which was clearly listed as the Parent’s contribution. I understand that EFC for THIS YEAR is $0. Four years ago, what was your FAFSA EFC? Was it $3,908.00? Or was it a different number? Was it $0?</p>
<p>I think a sit down with a financial aid officer will be a great way to validate or dispell your concerns about FA fairness, and is well worth the time and effort.</p>
<p>EFC was always zero. I know that EFC of zero does not always mean that parental contribution will be absolutely zero but I did not expect it to be that much.</p>
<p>But didn’t you take a summer session? Seems like the financial aid package you listed in reply #24 is right at the typical expectation of UC net price for the academic year for a FAFSA_EFC = $0 student, plus about $4,000 for the “summer expenses” listed. And the parent’s share listed is right around $4,000.</p>
<p>I.e. it looks like they gave the usual UC financial aid for the academic year, but the summer session was not covered, meaning that the $4,000 summer session costs were on you and your parents.</p>
<p>My loan amount was actually reduced to $5,500 in my junior year and my work study was reduced to $1000. Are they required to increase loans during junior year ?</p>