<p>Hey, well I'm a junior in high school right now and thinking about taking the CHSPE so I can skip my senior year and go straight to a CC. On the Cal Grant site it states that:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Every graduating high school senior who has at least a 3.0 GPA, meets the financial and academic requirements and applies on time will receive a Cal Grant A Entitlement award.
<p>Since I'm getting the equivalent of a high school diploma, would I still be eligible for Cal Grant A? </p>
<p>The page is also kinda confusing because it says that I can have a 2.4 CC GPA and still be eligible for the award for when I transfer to a four-year university. It also says under CC Reserve Grant that if you attend a CC first then the Cal Grant award will be reserved for you when you do transfer. </p>
<p>Does this mean you don't get any assistance from Cal Grant while you're in CC? And is Cal Grant and FAFSA the same thing or do you get financial aid from both? </p>
<p>
[quote]
Although the CHSPE can be used as evidence of the equivalence of high school graduation, the Commission will not accept CHSPE results for use as an academic qualifier. Students who took the CHSPE to qualify to leave high school must submit a GPA or other academic qualifier to meet the Cal Grant academic qualifier requirement.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So if I left high school after the 11th grade then they would calculate my gpa from 9th-11th grade? </p>
<p>I'd also like to know if I can be eligible for Cal Grant A using my CC GPA instead of my high school GPA. I have around a 3.2 right now but I've missed school the last 3 days and will likely miss the rest of the week in a crucial week that might make or break my GPA.</p>
<p>FAFSA and CalGRant are not the same thing- but you must file FAFSA to get cal grant.</p>
<p>You do not want Cal Grant A , you want B- over the life of the grant you will get MORE from cal Grant B. </p>
<p>I got Cal Grant at CC- i didnt graduate from high school, i took the CHSPE, but i got the Cal Grant not right away, but later ,but i applied for it later too.</p>
<p>Oh...the letters can be misleading. I guess I just assumed Cal Grant A was better because of the A in front of it. It's also kind of confusing because you need a 3.0 for A and a 2.0 for B. </p>
<p>Is the main difference between the two that Cal Grant B assists you while you're in CC while Cal Grant A only helps for when you transfer? Or is there a disparity between the amount of aid they give you for when you transfer as well?</p>
<p>Which Cal Grant did you get Malishka? And when did you get it? I was told I'd need at least 24 CC semester units by the March 2009 deadline for them to use my CC GPA for consideration instead of my high school.</p>
<p>ok when in CC you get B access portion,. then in UC you get tuition + access portion.</p>
<p>The access portion is like for books and living expenses, i tis around 1551 ( or was, this amount changes slightly yearly)</p>
<p>I was in CC for a very long time b./c i worked full time so i got the grant sometime around my 3rd year of study, but i dont know or remember how many units i had at the time. When i transfered i kept my access portion and then the tuition portion kicked in too.</p>
<p>I hope that makes sence... probably doesnt, it is quite confusing even if you read their pamphlet it is sitll confusing.</p>
<p>Hmm...you're right it still is very confusing. </p>
<p>I still don't understand though why getting Cal Grant A is harder in terms of GPA than Cal Grant B. Is it that you need a significantly lower family income or have gone through hardships like foster care? This is straight from California</a> Student Aid Commission - Cal Grant B *</p>
<p>And doesn't FAFSA itself cover most or all of CC tuition and books?</p>
<p>Question- I got my fin aid package and there was no Cal Grant award on it, even though I KNOW I qualify and I was told my award would be on hold until I transferred. So how can I get this money? It would really help me out for housing purposes.</p>
<p>Woman.Of.Troy, is this your final award or your prospective award? If I understand correctly your financial aid office should be interfacing pretty tightly with the CalGrant program; you'd probably just resolve it through your financial aid office.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, though, have you actually been notified of your award? I thought I was in a guaranteed program, but due to funding issues perhaps I won't be getting any.</p>
<p>KGZotU- Yeah I got my financial package a few days after I was admitted. Tehir wording is such that I think it's pretty much what I'm getting. I can now accept or decline work/study and grants and loans. It will only change if I get a Transfer Merit Award or private scholarship. Thanks for the tip, by the way. I think I'll call. </p>
<p>DId you tell the CalGrant people what school you transfered to? If you dont tell them they will not transfer your award over- unless your school tells them but as you know it is much better to do things like that yourself.</p>
<p>Go there and you can fill out a form that informs them of your current school and see what award you got and stuff. </p>
<p>Foster Care is a different award, Chafee grant i believe is what it is called.</p>
<p>Fafsa is an application that qualifies you for a variety of Grants- such as Pell Grant/ Cal Grant/ FSEOG/ and other school specific grants. You can Earn your Cal Grant in CC and you get the Access portion of the B grant while in CC and then when you transfer you get the Tuition AND extra 1551 access portion, which is clearly more than just getting the Cal Grant A . Yes it is for low income people.</p>
<p>Malishka- Yeah I did a "change of school" thing during the application process. You're right, the site doesn't let me see what my 'current' school is. I never got any money @ CC because I had the Board of Governor's fee waiver and a Pell Grant which was enough to cover both tuition and books.</p>
<p>I would get Pell + Acess + board of governers. I dont know why. I think access can also count toward living expenses in CC. (this was not the whole time i spend in CC , but only for the last 2 semesters )</p>
<p>You can submit the school change online, it updates within 24 hours or so, much faster than sending it in.</p>
<p>Malishka31- I just remembered, I DID change it but it was from one of the 4 year uni's I'd gotten into as a freshman to my CCC. <em>bumps forehead</em> It doesn't let me do it online but I'm definately calling. Thanks for your help! :)</p>
<p>i'm still confused as to the benefit of getting a cal grant. people made it sound like any cal grant money you receive wouldn't actually reduce the amount of any loans you'd have to take out, but rather would reduce grants from the university first.... to me this just seems like trading free money from one source for free money from another source...whats the point? the cal grant website does an absolutely putrid job of explaining this and i KNOW its a question a lot of people have...</p>
<p>I have been calling monthly since March and the latest thing they have told me is I won't be able to make a change of school until July. They seem to be backed up with work, because in March they told me to wait till April, in April they said to wait until May, etc. Don't be too surprised if they give you this response too.</p>
<p>Cal Grant is a set amount of either Tuition or Tuition + access portion. University grant varies from year to year based on availiability. You might not get any Uni grant at all.</p>
<p>Malishka31- Sorry for bombarding you with questions. I got a 30k+ university grant and my gap to pay is 6k. A cal grant at my school according to the website is worth 9k+, so since I know I'm eligible and all that good stuff, will it pay for the gap at least? As for the remaining 3k, wouldn't they go to my loans?</p>
<p>I guess I'm just worried that my financial aid package would get smaller. That would really suck. :(</p>
<p>your financial aid works totally different from what i recall. The UCs are state funded and there is sort of the issue of how they want students to be responsible for their education... so most UC students get loans no matter what.
Cal Grants cover FULL UC tuition or CSU, but only 9k for privates, which doesnt help you much at all, in your case the University grant is much much better, i am not sure what the cal grant would reduce- it might reduce the uni grant, it might not.</p>
<p>My experiences are for UC only- privates work very differently. But you shouldnt worry , USC is good with aid from what i heard.</p>
<p>Yes, they were <em>very</em> generous but there's still a gap that must be covered. My EFC is less than 1k and yet I have to pay more. It's still manageable but it would be awesome if Cal Grant covered it. Or covered loans. Debt free= awesome. A little debt for a dream school is always fine too I guess, lol. :)</p>
<p>it would be up to USC if they reduce the grant or not, the UCs definatly would reduce the university grant, but for USC it is really up to them how they allocate funds b/c it is their funds not state funds</p>