<p>So, I'm born and raised in California with an EFC of 0. California high school to California CC to UC transfer.... my parents don't have a penny to spare. Am I in luck with an EFC of 0 or screwed? Will my need be met? Thank you! I'll have to live on campus.</p>
<p>You may want to also try this question on the UC sub-forum.</p>
<p>With a EFC of 0 you will likely get a Cal Grant, worth up to about 10K/year. Probably also some other aid such as Pell Grant (I think up to 5K). This is all “freebie” money that doesn’t need to be paid back. So the first thing to do is figure out if you qualify for the Cal Grant. And on top of that is the Federal Stafford loans, averaging about 5K/year.</p>
<p>Something to consider while in CC – I don’t know the details but you have an option of “banking” the Cal Grant award while in CC and use it instead a few years later in CSU/UC. This can be helpful because CC costs about 1/10th of the CSU/UC system and you may want the grant money available later.</p>
<p>Same thing about Stafford loans – you may not “need” them while at CC – so you can take the loan but save it until later since it is interest-free.</p>
<p>The only downside to CC is that since the cost of attendance is low the Grants/Loans may also be low those first two years. </p>
<p>All that said, there still is no guarantee on how the number will work out until you actually fill out the forms… and Cal Grant has some other eligibility issues (I think a particular HS GPA?). So be sure to work in the summers and save up money because it is rare that even with all the grants and loans that <em>everything</em> gets covered. One hopes for the gap to be small and managable.</p>
<p>The UC’s do not meet 100% of need. But the Blue & Gold Plan should cover your tuition/fees.</p>
<p>[University</a> of California - Blue + Gold Opportunity Plan](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html)</p>
<p>UCs are very good about “meeting need” for those who have 0 EFCs and have lowish incomes…and are “in state”.</p>
<p>You’ll likely get…</p>
<p>blue and gold…free tuition
Cal Grant (not sure if you’ll get A or B…but you’ll get one of them…in an amount coordinated with the below grant)
UC Grant…of several thousand dollars…again…coordinated with the above Cal Grant
Student loans …$5500…plus maybe about $1500 in Perkins (if you submitted FAFSA on time)
Work study…about $2000</p>
<p>YOU may be expected to have a “student contribution”…I’ve seen that on some kids’ UC’s FA packages…that can be around $1500 from summer earnings.</p>
<p>So…with all of the above…you should have all/nearly all costs covered.</p>
<p>BTW…start lining up a summer job… :)</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>annikasorrensen: Cal Grant for CCC –> UC transfers does not look at high school grades at all. It only looks at the CCC GPA. There is also no way to bank, so to speak, the funds. You can place the grant on hold while in CCC for up to three years, but it will be reduced when you transfer to account for your standing (so a junior transfer would have only two years/four semesters/6 quarters remaining of eligibility). This is what those graduating from high school often do and is automatic with Cal Grant A*.</p>
<p>*Cal Grant A does not cover any tuition/fees at the CCC level. Only Cal Grant B would disperse anything it would only be the $1,551 amount for living assistance.</p>
<p>OP: Without knowing your income or assets (since EFC is not the determining factor in whether you’re eligible for Cal Grant or not), I can’t for sure say which one you would get. My instinct is B, though.</p>
<p>Cal Grant B:
Tuition/Fee Assistance - $10,302
Living Assistance - $1,551</p>
<p>If you are eligible for B, then do not let them try to switch you to A. Although it has the same amount of Tuition/Fee Assistance as B, A does not include the Living Assistance amount. I doubt they would, but stranger things have happened. It is possible all you might be eligible for is A, though.</p>
<p>Blue&Gold is another option, however this does not cover as much as it would lead you to believe if you are Cal Grant eligible. Blue&Gold is only for Tuition/Fee Assistance same as Cal Grant. The $10,302 of Tuition/Fee assistance that Cal Grant covers is the statewide fees (the fees that every UC charges). There are additional fees that vary from campus to campus (UCSC, for example has around another $2k to $3k tacked on).</p>
<p>To be honest, I’ve never seen any Blue&Gold monies actually stick to my account. Once my Cal Grant went through, the grant I was fairly sure was Blue&Gold was removed, but I did have a significant UCSC grant. I also have subsidized loans and was offered the remainder of the COA in unsubsidized, but I have chosen to just use my savings to cover that amount.</p>
<p>I do have a small work study allotment I have been unable to make use of due to minimal jobs that meet my time needs (20-22 unit quarters do not leave a lot of free time).</p>
<p>I’m going to take the guess that you’ve already submitted your FAFSA since you know our EFC ;). Make 100% sure that your GPA has also been submitted by your CCC before March 2. This is how you apply for Cal Grant.</p>
<p>Between Cal Grant, Pell, work study, UC specific funds, and possible Blue&Gold (would be very minimal, though, if you had Cal Grant), then you should be able to get by just fine with only taking out federal loans (especially if you can live cheaply). Also, check with your CCC. Sometimes there are significant grants for transferring to certain UCs and CSUs. For example, there’s a $10k a year scholarship (for two years total and not specified for tuition/fees last I checked) to UCSC if you transfer from a specific list of CCCs (you do have to be nominated, though). I’m sure there are other opportunities available for the other campuses.</p>
<p>I can support with personal experience what mom2collegekids said about the UCs being good about trying to meet the need of low to 0 EFC undergrads :). They definitely do not promise to meet need, but they do try hard to from what I’ve seen. I’m actually happy they do include the federal loans as well rather than being a no-loan campus. I find it to be a bigger motivation to do well because it is my future money on the line. It is a reasonable investment if you keep the loans minimal.</p>
<p>Thank you for the great information thus far! Our income is 14,000… business owner and all of our assets are 0. We have never used any federal or state aid(does this benefit us?)… not even FAFSA while I was in CC.</p>
<p>I attend SMC; isn’t my GPA automatically submitted? I have a few units at another CC before I went to SMC; do I also need to submit those grades separately or should I transfer those grades to SMC, then submit them manually or have them automatically submitted?</p>
<p>You would want to have your transcripts on record at your current CCC anyways, but from what I know: you just need to submit the GPA from the primary school. This I could be wrong on, though, but it is how it seemed to work for me (I had three CCCs on my record and my GPA was submitted before I finished bringing over my transcripts from the first two to the third to apply for my IGETC certification). SMC should submit the GPA, I believe they’re one of the ones I’ve heard is really good about that, but I would be sure they are. Just ask them :)</p>
<p>As for anything specific to SMC, I don’t know. I’m a Bay Area girl and I don’t know that much about the SoCal CCCs. You’ll have to ask in the financial aid office if there’s any extra scholarships that might benefit you since I’ve found many are not always listed online (if any are at all). The example I mentioned didn’t seem to be well-known by anyone. I only found out about it after transferring.</p>
<p>Anywho, sounds to me like you might be eligible for Cal Grant B (this is a very good thing!). I would definitely not take any chances and make sure that GPA is submitted. Cal Grant is the lifeblood of how low EFC California residents afford the UCs. I’m also a paranoid worry wart, though ;)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I’ll have to bring my transcripts over anyway for the IGETC.</p>