No Grants in Financial Aid Packet

Hi there,
I posted about this in a thread awhile ago, and I have everything basically figured out as far as how I’ll pay through school (my mom is moving into a house that has already been paid off by my late grandparents in order to help me cover out of pocket costs). Now I’m just wondering if there could’ve been something wrong with my FAFSA application on my end or the school’s end. The CSU I’m attending only offered me loans in my financial aid packet. In the GroupMe chat with other incoming freshmen at my school, almost everyone I’ve talked to received at least SOME money in grants. I just thought this was strange because although I knew I wouldn’t be considered low-income, I’m in a single-parent household and my mom’s salary is around $55,000/year with no assets or huge savings accounts. Does this seem correct? I guess I was overestimating how much I’d receive, but this seems a little off. Is it worth it to talk to the financial aid office to get some clarity in case there was a mistake? I’m just not sure what’s normal and what isn’t in these cases.
Thanks!

Did you run the NPC? How does the actual aid that you were “offered” (I am not sure that a loan is that much of an offer) compare with what the NPC predicts?

Yes it may be worth it to talk to the financial aid officer. We had the same situation and we didn’t submit a form and when we did we qualified for a small need based grant.
Good luck

Yes I did, the NPC predicted I’d get offered about $2,000 in grants

Did you get your Calgrant materials submitted on time?

Yes, I completed the FAFSA a few days after it opened.

Did your school send your GPA verification for Calgrant before March 2?

My high school? I’m really not sure. Is this something I would have needed to request them to do?

Answered my own question by looking at the CalGrant page. My school never mentioned anything about this, I’m guessing because the majority of my class is high income so not very many students would’ve qualified anyway. Is there anything I can do about it at this point?

I believe the Calgrant deadlines are very firm…but the only way to get a real answer is to contact the Calgrant folks, and your college financial aid department.

Really…I hate to say this…but it wasn’t your high school’s job to make sure everything was done. It was really yours. If you were applying for Calgrant, you needed to make sure all required submissions were completed.

You can also check with your high school…just to be sure.

Oh of course, I’m not mad at my school as they were a big help with a lot of other college-related stuff. I’m a first-gen student and had to navigate this process on my own so I was bound to miss something-- I’ll just brush it off and see what I can do next. Thank you!

Please check with your HS. In some cases! IIRC, the stuff is sent to Calgrant as a matter of course.

Don’t assume yours wasn’t.

Is it possible that you didn’t list this college as a choice?

I have to go get a copy of my transcript from my HS today so I plan on finding out about the Calgrant form then. And no, the school was my top choice so I doubt I forgot it but I’ll check to make sure. After I ask my HS, would the next step be to call the college financial aid office or Calgrant?

You can contact both the college and Calgrant. I would,think the Calgrant folks would be your first stop.

After doing some research on the CalGrant website I found out that California public schools are required by law to submit GPA verifications? (https://www.csac.ca.gov/post/cal-grant-faq-0)… no one from my school has gotten back to me yet about whether or not mine was submitted but just thought I’d leave this here in case any other students/parents in the future were wondering.