<p>I'm sure many of you are aware that in California there's the CSU and UC system. Typically the "sticker price" of CSU's are cheaper than UC's but a lot of UC's award university grants to students who meet certain requirements to balance off their more expensive cost. The question that I have is, does the amount of money that they give out in grants diminish over time. I heard that a lot of schools play a trick called "Front Loading" where they will offer their newly-admitted students an amazing Financial Aid package as a way to "hook them in" and then for their later years they pretty much have to pay the rest of their college years out of pocket. </p>
<p>Do the UC's do this? I'm mostly wondering about UC Berkeley since they gave me over $16,000 in university grant money for the upcoming school year and I want to know if I will keep getting that each year. I'm doing engineering so it's going to easily take me more than 2 years at Berkeley coming in as a transfer student this year. Is there anyone attending Cal as an engineering student who has seen their grant aid decrease over the years?</p>
<p>I heard the Blue and Gold Opportunity plan only lasts for 4 years for incoming freshmen and for 2 years for transfer students at UC's. If I decide on transferring to Berkeley from a community college, I will expect to stay there for a good 2.5 years or 3 years, so I want to know if I have to pay more out of pocket once I pass the 2 year-mark at Berkeley?</p>
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For sure you won’t have the Blue & Gold Opportunity plan beyond 4 years/2 years time limit. However, the Federal Pell Grant you may receive is limited by law to be the equivalent of six years of Pell Grant funding.</p>
<p>Ok, I know the money from FAFSA has it’s own limitations like the Pell Grant and Cal Grant (for California Residents) so what about the money specifically from the school. They offered me about $16,000 worth of grants that I really don’t know exactly where it came from other than the fact that it’s from the university itself. Does that money have any limitations?</p>
<p>If it’s grant money…it is subject to your actual financial need. You will need to reapply annually for any need based aid you are receiving. If your family income increases above the threshold for receiving the grants, you will see them reduced.</p>
<p>UCs don’t try to ‘hook’ you or front load or play games. If you get aid as a freshman that holds for your 4 years if your financial situation remains the same. How it works for students after 4 years of credits, I don’t know. You will need to talk to them. Schools aren’t going to keep funding students who take forever to graduate. However if you have sophomore standing, I’d think that 3 years funding is a given. If you have Jr standing 2 years is a given. How it works for students who have to take extra prereqs I don’t know. Talk to them.</p>
<p>I called their financial aid office a while back and asked them whether I will still be receiving grant money from the school after passing the 2-year mark as a transfer student and they told me to look it up. ■■■!</p>
<p>That’s why I came on here to ask if there’s anyone from UC Berkeley who had to continue school for an additional year for their undergrad and how much more they had to pay out of pocket if their aid reduced.</p>
<p>From what I understand scholarships don’t diminish (as long as GPA is kept) but grants can be taken away. Check to the restrictions for their scholarships. One of my friends got a fat aid package to UCI BUT he has to maintain a 3.5+ GPA In Economics; not an easy task IMO. </p>
<p><a href=“http://financialaid.berkeley.edu/satisfactory-academic-progress”>http://financialaid.berkeley.edu/satisfactory-academic-progress</a> describes the limits on the number of semesters of financial aid one may get at Berkeley.</p>
<p>The short summary is 5 academic years’ worth of enrollment is eligible for financial aid. Note that every 15 units of transferred in college credit (but not AP or IB credit) counts as half a year for this purpose, so if you are an incoming junior transfer with 60 to 70 units of community college courses, you have 3 academic years’ worth of enrollment at Berkeley that is eligible for financial aid. For the purpose of financial aid eligibility, any two or three terms (fall, spring, summer) in an academic year counts as an academic year, while any one term in an academic year counts as half of an academic year.</p>