My family makes around 70k a year for a family of five. After filling out the FAFSA, I found that I will not be able to receive a lot of federal aid. I also checked with the financial aid calculators from some of the schools I applied to and they gave me a financial need of $0. At this point, I am devastated because it’s possible that I won’t be able to attend my dream school (UCSD) because I cannot afford it. Loans are a last resort for me. Is there any way option for me to help me pay for college?
No Cal Grant?
EFC of 0?
UCSD’s net price calculator at https://saber.ucsd.edu/aidEstimator/Home/Dependent indicates, for a California resident from a family of 5 with 1 in college and parental income $70,000 and no assets, the grant estimate is about $15,000, with a net price of about $16,000. However, if there are about $600,000 in parental assets, the grant estimate becomes $0.
Non-resident will be essentially list price of around $55,000.
I don’t think OP’s EFC would be 0.
Are you a CA resident?
I think the EFC will be quite a bit higher than $0. Maybe $7-8 k.
But yes, isn’t there a middle income scholarship in CA?
You might have to commute to a CC or CSU. With a loan and maybe state grant, it might be doable.
From another thread it seems the OP is in-state for CA. The question is why no Cal Grant.
OP is likely confusing federal aid with state aid.
Not qualifying for Pell doesn’t mean you won’t get Cal Grant.
Please run the NPC on a UC website and copy/paste the result here.
Please tell us that you applied for Calgrant…and had all the required submissions before March 2.
You are not ineligible for federal aid. You just might not qualify for anything other than the direct loan.
If you are a CA resident and family income is less than $80K, you should qualify for Blue and Gold plan, which will cover tuition and fees. And I would think you would have a Cal Grant as well. Your family must have too many assets for Pell?
@Madison85 Yes, you’re correct. Sorry, I was mistaken, but my family is reluctant to take out loans. I do qualify for Cal Grant, but I do not get a lot from it, and we would still struggle to pay the rest.
@calmom2016 Can you explain how the blue and gold plan works? I know that calgrant covers part of tuition. How would that work alongside the blue and gold plan? For example, if the blue and gold plan covers my tuition and fees, what will happen to the money from cal grant? Can it be used for other purposes, such as dorming, etc?
While it is a good idea to try to avoid debt for your education, paying off the federal student loans is manageable for most recent college graduates. The big debts you read about in the newspapers are due to families taking on private loans in addition to (or instead of) the federal loans. The maximum that you can borrow with standard student loans is $5,500 for freshman year, $6,500 for sophomore year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year. Altogether, this comes to $27,000. Depending on where you study, some of those loans will be partially subsidized, and you won’t owe interest on that part of the loan for the time you are in college.
@kuidaore - the Blue and Gold plan isn’t really financial aid itself. It is just a promise that if you meet the requirements, your tuition and fees will be met in some way - usually through CalGrant and Pell grants, possibly university grants. Once your tuition/fees are covered in some way, the promise of Blue and Gold has been fulfilled.