Hello, I’m a High School Senior in California with a dying question to know something about my cousin, who I’m currently unable to contact. She enrolled in UC Davis Fall of 2009 and graduated Class of 2013, and throughout those 4 years I heard from my relatives that her tuition and other expenses (room & board, books) were paid for completely by grants (possibly scholarships) and no loans. Now I know that my financial aid options in California are the Pell Grants and California Dream Act, along with a Work-Study program and the recent Middle Class scholarship, all under FAFSA, but I feel my cousin’s case a bit incredulous when I hear countless tales of alumni undergraduates with a pile of debt to pay off from student loans, that she could go to college for free off only government money. So I ask, is it possible, under certain demographics and requirements, that the FAFSA is able to pay in full 4 year undergraduate studies in a UC (and I assume CSU)?
FAFSA is an application; it is not a source of money.
The universities fund the student through a combination of state scholarships and grants. If your cousin qualified for the right programs and was meticulous about applying for aid, then, yes, she may have had her education fully funded by the state.
Possibly your cousin had a variety of scholarships that the researched, applied for and won, but she could also have been a Blue & Gold student.
Google UC and “blue and gold”. Essentially, the Blue & Gold program is a promise from the UC system that accepted students with a family income under 80k will receive enough in grant aid to cover tuition and fees. FAFSA is the name of the form that must be filled out each year to document income and demonstrate financial need.
Note that Blue & Gold only covers tuition and fees. Blue & Gold students are still responsible for things like room & board, books, transportation, etc.
Hey, you know that people sometimes exaggerate-especially in families right? So “Hey he got a free ride to…” May just mean nice amount of funding that, once told to 5 other people, became “totally free ride.”
How does knowing this about your cousin affect you?
Go to each school’s web site and search for the net price calculator. Use it to get an estimate of financial aid and net price. Don’t worry about your cousin.
I think that if your parents’ income and assets are low enough, they could have an EFC of $0 which would mean a very low amount that they student has to pay through workstudy ($2 - $5,000/yr, I think). I know of a family who paid nothing, didn’t take out any loans, but their kids worked all four years and every summer to pay the student portion of the bill.
California resident students with FAFSA EFC = $0 tend to see net price of $8,000 to $11,000 at UC net price calculators, varying by campus. This self-help amount is typically suggested to be covered by a federal direct loan (up to $5,500 frosh year) and work study or other work earnings. Merit scholarships, if any, may be used to replace this self-help amount.
You hear about mountains of debt because 1° VERY few states are as good to their residents as California when it comes to public Higher Education. 2° some students apply without thinking about costs then make their parents take loans for them.
CSU’s only provide sufficient aid for you to pay tuition. UC’s also package the cost of room&board. Therefore, for a strong student, it may be cheaper to attend a UC.
Look into “blue and gold” and also “Regents”. UCLA has excellent scholarships for low-income students. All in all, above tuition, any scholarship toward room and board will derive from a very strong HS record.
For high-need students, CSUs are often cheaper than UCs if commuting to a local one, but UCs are often cheaper if the student needs to live at the school.