Question regarding thre UC Blue and Gold opportunity plan...

Paying for College
1

<p>I submitted my FAFSA before the March 2nd deadline and I know that my income is well below the 70,000 threshold (I made 22,000 last year and I am independent). However, because I am a transfer student at UC Berkeley, I did not realize until today that my Cal Grant GPA verification has not been sent automatically and the deadline for that was yesterday. I would like to know if anyone else is in the same situation or had a similar situation and can provide some insight if I would still qualify for the blue and gold plan. I am getting somewhat conflicting information from Berkeley's financial aid office as I met with an advisor today, who notified me of my Cal grant app not being submitted, and was told that I would still be okay because the school would just cover my fees with other types of aid. However, I just called the office to get a second answer from someone else, and he told me that the school will only cover up to what they determine is my "gift aid", meaning that the total of my system fees is not guaranteed to be completely covered (he said it is possible I may only get 1,000 if thats what they determine).</p>

<p>I am pretty upset about this whole situation because I was not told that if I am a transfer student that my Cal Grant application will not be automatically submitted, like it is for other students. I guess that's my fault for not being proactive enough, hopefully it works out.</p>

<p>Any insight on this issue would be greatly appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Mostly not important since your income is $22k, but the actual threshold is $80k for the upcoming academic year, not $70k.</p>

<p>While some CCCs do send the required GPA verification information without being prompted to by the student, not all do. It has nothing to do with being a transfer student (I was a transfer myself over a year ago and mine was submitted for me). It is your responsibility to make sure that all documents are submitted on time. Even high schoolers must make sure their GPA verification has been sent. There is even the CSAC website where you can watch to see if and when your GPA verification has been submitted/received.</p>

<p>You might be SOL, but I do not know for sure. UCB does have the option to provide you as much grant aid as they can/want to, but you missed the deadline for Cal Grant and for Blue&Gold. They do not have any obligation to meet even your systemwide fees at this point. Since you submitted the FAFSA in time, it is possible you might get decent enough aid. The UCs are generous, but none of them promise to meet full need even if deadlines are met.</p>