Financial Aid for a Second School (1st Bachelor's, but with 220+ units)

Paying for College
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<p>I have 220+ units from a University of California school with a major in BS Chemistry (I finished all my requirements), but I want to study at another school for Computer Science. I have not yet declared candidacy because I want to use the remaining Pell Grant to fund my classes at a CC to take computer science classes since Pell Grants are only for people pursuing a 1st Bachelor's. </p>

<p>Is it possible to transfer to a state school if I have 220+ quarter units from a UC and get financial aid?</p>

<p>CAL Grants would be gone. ACS and National SMART Grants no longer exist. All that is left would be 1.333 years of Pell Grant (assuming I do not use it at the CC) and University Grant.</p>

<p>I already have $14,000 in student federal loans (direct and Perkins).</p>

<p>If it helps, my GPA at the UC is 3.11 / 4.00, my GPA at CC is 4.00 (mostly about 10 classes taken in high school) and my SAT scores were 1880 in 2008.</p>

<p>I want to avoid loans if possible.</p>

<p>Some people suggested to use Coursera, EDX, Code Academy, Khan Academy, books, etc. to self study programming since you do not need a CS degree to be a software engineer which is what I want to be.</p>

<p>This is a long shot and I understand that I am making an unreasonable request, but I am looking for a school that offers full rides (housing, tuition, rent, board, etc.) and has a CS major without using CAL Grant / Pell Grant that accepts transfers with large amount of units.</p>

<p>I understand that CSUs / UCs do not offer 2nd Bachelor's, but I have not declared candidacy, so technically I do not have a BS yet.</p>

<p>I am willing to retake SAT to get a higher score if it helps. I can commute if the CSU in question is SJSU.</p>

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<p>Two things to look at: one is what the schools’ definition of satisfactory progress for financial aid is; there is usually a limit, percentage-wise, of how many credits you can attempt. The second thing to look at-- if I am understanding your situation correctly-- is whether or not the UC requires the last block of credits to be completed at their school. If so, you can’t take the computer classes at a cc and go back to pick up your degree at a UC.</p>

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<p>Once you have earned the hours and requirements to graduate, you are no longer eligible for the Pell grant even if you don’t declare.</p>

<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213FSAHbkVol1Ch6.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213FSAHbkVol1Ch6.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>If this is the case, then why did I get Pell Grant for my first two quarters in my 5th year even though I finished all of my requirements in my 4th year? Did the UC simply just overlooked this and I got lucky since there are too many students to check?</p>

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<p>But what if my BS at the UC is in Chemistry and I am simply just taking CS classes at the UC to get the financial aid + make myself more knowledgeable in CS? The BS at the UC is in Chemistry and not CS.</p>

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Probably. Some FA departments are less efficient than others. I know my son in law was double majoring and he had to plan very carefully to make sure he did not finish one of his majors ahead of the other - he had to put one class of for a coupe of semesters (not for Pell in his case, but for other school based money). Their school FA department was very efficient and well organized though and had explained it all to him.</p>

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<p>Cloudy…need based federally funded money is for getting your first bachelors degree. It is NOT for taking classes to learn more about another field.</p>

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<p>I see. Perhaps I should highlight the most important question of my post (not saying you ignored it since you probably do not have the answer to the question).</p>

<p>Since federally funded money is for getting a 1st Bachelor’s, is there any school that will give institutional aid for students who are pursuing a 1st Bachelor’s, but have excess units from a previous school.</p>

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<p>If you are looking for a new school for those additional courses, you would be applying as a transfer student. Most schools reserve their institutional need based aid for incoming freshmen. In addition, most schools would not accept you as a transfer unless you were planning to take the bulk of courses in your major from THEIR school. In most cases, schools will want you to complete at least two years of schooling at their school. </p>

<p>You were inquiring about taking CS courses at a community college. MOST community colleges do not have large amounts of institutional funding. You also mentioned using the remaining Pell which is federally funded aid, not institutional aid. I have to ask…why don’t you complete your chem degree, and apply to a grad program where you might be able to get a masters in CS and possibly some financial aid.</p>

<p>Your post makes it sound like you want to take CS courses at a community college, delay actually applying to graduate with your bachelors, and have someone ELSE pay the bills.</p>

<p>I’m sorry to say, I think you will have some difficulty finding financial aid funding for this plan.</p>