How does Cal Grant and financial aid work for UCs?

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

i’ve been to a community college and for financial aid, they just give me the money to do whatever i want with it (i still usse it for school nonetheless) but are UCs different?

I have been accepted to UC Berkeley and their estimate follows this:
Berkeley Undergraduate Scholarship $18,967.00
Federal Pell Grant $5,775.00
Federal SEOG Grant $400.00
Total Gift Aid $25,142.00

and then the details say:
Tuition and Fees

$6,939.00   $6,939.00   $13,878.00

Personal Expenses
$1,009.00 $1,009.00 $2,018.00
Transportation
$267.00 $267.00 $534.00
Housing
$7,194.00 $7,194.00 $14,388.00
Food
$517.00 $517.00 $1,034.00
Books & Supplies
$620.00 $620.00 $1,240.00
Subtotals $16,546.00 $16,546.00 $33,092.00

how does this work? for example, it says they’re giving me $14,388.00 total for the whole year just for housing, but if i decided to live off campus, can i still use this money to pay for housing? can reduce the personal expenses and add it to the housing portion?

basically, am i free to do whatever i please with these estimates? or are they in a school account that i can only use for school related stuff? the way it works at community college is right now they just give me the money and i use it accordingly.

any help is appreciated :frowning: so lost…

also, is the “Berkeley Undergraduate Scholarship $18,967.00” a combination of cal grant and their own UCB grants?

2

They give you whatever left after they deduct for the school charges each semester.
If you live on campus they will deduct the money for housing cost.
You don’t get the entire money for the whole year.

3

@coolweather so if i dont drom on campus, say i find an apartment my self (whether it be a UC apartments or outside) and if all my fees have been covered, i can use the remaining amount for my apartment payments?

4

Yes

5

and also, can anyone help with this? my shopping sheet says:
Grants and Scholarships from UC Berkeley $19,367.00
Federal Pell Grant $5,775.00
Grants from your state $0.00
Other scholarships you can use $0.00

is the “Grants and Scholarships from UC Berkeley $19,367.00” incorporating the cal grant as well or is this only from Berkeley??

I am eligible for the blue and gold program, and my net cost of attendance is 7,500$, does this mean that will be covered as well??

6

Cost of Attendance is your out of pocket cost, which will be paid by loans or savings you have.

7

@shishand80 no, the 7,500 will not be covered. blue and gold says your tuition will be covered, which it is. The 7,500 is for you to pay with money you have, money you’ll earn or loans.

8

The cal grant is in the “Grants and scholarships from UC Berkeley”

9

@shishand80 I am thinking that the Grants and Scholarships from UC Berkeley encompasses Cal Grants/Blue and Gold/University Scholarship Awards. It seems every university refers to the large lump sum as something else, but it is all essentially coming from the same place, besides the scholarship amounts that are specific to the university. It is like you either obtain a Cal Grant or Blue and Gold, but that money is referred to as ‘grant’ aid and lumped into the same category as University Grants. I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong!

10

“Grants abd Scholsrdhips from UC Berkeley” includes blue and gold and cal grants. If you end up receiving a Cal Grant, then they will reduce the amount of your grants and scholarships by the amount of the Cal grants. The Cal grants will not be on top of what you are already receiving.

11

AH thanks a lot guys.
one last question, so after tuition fees have been covered, there will be money left for food, books, housing, and personal expenses. Will they be giving me the money to buy the books myself or would i be limited to their bookstore only? same goes for food, the amount they accommodated for food, will i be forced to buying their meal plans or i can use that money as i wish?

and lastly, i just wanted to confirm, they seem to have assigned around 14k for my dorming for the whole year. say if i found an outside apartment, only having to pay 10k for the whole year, am i right to assume the following:
i will be able to use that 14k and pay my off campus housing,
and secondly, the left over 4k, i can use that for other things and that may include personal expenses? ( i will be living 7hrs away from my parents, so i am wondering when i want to visit them on breaks, i can use some of the money if i have anything left over for plane tickets and etc )

12

Your whole financial aid package includes grants, scholarships , and loans. You receive financial aid every semester, and if money is left over after paying all fees, you can keep it. Your financial aid amount will decrease if you live off campus.

13

@FUTUREUCLABRUIN1 how come? and by how much? sorry im very new to this. would this be the case even for the university apartments?

i just want a single room that is all

14

I honestly don’t know. Perhaps its “cheaper” in their mind to live off campus. It is usually a $5000 difference. Campus apartments are considered off campus in terms of financial aid.

15

From what I heard from UCD financial aid office, if you live off campus, the grant would be deducted because off campus and on campus have different budget. I thought all UC work the same???

@shishand80 They estimated my lost of living for 17k. When you applied for fafsa, did you put on campus or off campus?

Updated: I may refer to a different tab. 17k is what shown on “My net cost.” I guess it includes including housing and other expenses

16

Cost of attendance on-campus, off-campus.

http://admissions.berkeley.edu/costofattendance

You FA package shows award for on-campus expense. Stick with it. Don’t make thing complicate.
You will save time and have less headache with roommates when living on campus. You have to find a new roommate if you off-campus roommate suddenly leaves and does not pay rent. Off-campus also requires cosigns, extra deposits.

17

@coolweather If I choose apartment owned by campus, say Wada, will it consider as “off campus”?
I also receive an email about applying for EOP. I did some quick research about the program, people said the program would give eligible students cheap housing (co-app). If I get admitted to the program, how would the grant be recalculated? I know there’s no such thing as extra money…

18

@bizmlover if you found out please let me know as well

19

Sorry. I don’t know.

20

@bizmlover i think it is considered off-campus.
see: http://housing2.berkeley.edu/rates
check out the martinez, they have single rooms but you share the bedroom, but it also states " Note: Apartments are considered off-campus housing for financial aid purposes."