This really sucks… I am looking into the Bonner program. Can anyone provide insights?
Are you able to pay for UCLA where she also got accepted? If so…let this one go!
Not worth it. Cross it out.
Bonner scholarships would have been announced but email/call to ask.
@thumper1 First year at UCLA will be the most expensive. Afterwards she will live w her grandma so cost will drop significantly as an in-state student…
Is she currently instate, that is graduating from a California high school? Where do you (parent) live?
She can’t “become” instate.
She can live with her grandmother to save on housing but it won’t make her instate. Her residential status depends on where she graduated high school and where you (parent) reside.
Are YOU, the parent, a resident of California? If not, your daughter cannot became an instate resident for tuition purposes simply by living with her grandma.
So…are you residents of CA now? Please clarify!
She’s moving to CA. That’s where she wants to live…
https://students.ucsd.edu/finances/fees/residence/criteria.html
Where your daughter is moving doesn’t matter: until she’ s 24, what matters to define instate residency is where YOU live and pay taxes.
Otherwise she has to find a job that pays 50K+, which is impossible with a HS diploma (and that’s a lowball estimation of the “budget” they want to see).
Your daughter will NOT be considered an instate student her second year in CA…after attending a college there for one year. Sorry…you are completely misreading the requirements.
- It’s YOUR domicile that determines residency for your daughter.
- She can’t be moving there for educational purposes...and clearly if that’s all she is doing is going to college...then the jig will be up.
- OOS residents do NOT receive need based aid from UCLA. Your daughter will NOT be receiving need based aid from UCLA...likely ever...since she is enrolling as an OOS student.
So…what affordable college did you kiddo apply to?
@“aunt bea” can you add to this??
And it doesn’t matter if she intends to live in CA after graduating. They don’t care.
I appreciate the concerns…i have read the criteria
@MYOS1634 Why do you say “it’s not worth it” regarding Spelman? Did you or someone you know attend Spelman? Fortunately we won’t have to borrow the entire amount…
Yes, I do, actually. Spelman is a terrific college. Its rank among HBCUs is well-known and well deserved.
@juillet here is a proud alumna if you wish other perspectives.
But if your financial aid package is all loans as the title of this thread indicates, and if you need to borrow more than the federal loans (5.5k freshman year) to attend, then no it’s not worth that amount of debt, saddling your family with a burden like that.
Even if you don’t need to borrow the entire amount, parent loans are a bad idea - especially if you have other children (since your ability to pay back and thus borrow decreases each year).
So, a child who got into such colleges as UCLA and Spelman HAS to have gotten into a few other terrific colleges.
What can you afford 'out of pockets (from income and savings)?
Where do you live?
If she wants to move to California, where else did she apply beside UCs (St Mary’s? Scripps? Occidental? LMU?..) and are the financial aid packages affordable without parent loans?
If you, the parent, are not a resident of California, expect your kid to be paying the full cost of attendance for all,four years with loans at UCLA…just like what you are saying is the case with this college.
I don’t know what you are reading…but your kid will have to demonstrate that she has been TOTALLY self supporting, including her OOS CA tuition costs to even get a whimper off consideration for instate status after the first year. In other words…her income would need to exceed $50,000 a year…or so. She would not be able to get any support from you…at all. Not a dime. How would she earn that much money while attending college? How would she earn that much anyway? She would be a HS graduate…and would be lucky to,get any full time job…probably not a $50,000 a year paying one.
I think you are interpreting the CA residency requirements for instate tuition purposes the way you want them to be…not what they actually ARE.
@“aunt bea” can you please discuss the financial form folks need to complete in CA to show they have been self supporting?
@thumper1 and @PackersLA,
https://www.ucop.edu/residency/residency-requirements.html
Each public university in California has a Residency Determination Officer or advisor whereby the student goes to get their information, budget sheets and their beginning date of residence.
If the student lives with grandmother, then she is not considered independent nor self-supporting. She must pay market rental rates and she needs proof of rent payments, in her name, with her paycheck receipts that match those rates. In living with grandma, she is receiving rental help and will not get instate residency.
https://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf#page=13
@PackersLA, I beg to differ with your interpretation of the California residency requirements. They are very strict and unyielding because the state of California is out of money for education. On Thursday, the Regents just approved a 3.5% increase in tuition to non-residents. They’re out of money. If your daughter tries to become “creative” with her residency, they will find out and will, either ask for repayment, expel her, or withhold her diploma.
Once an OOS, always an OOS, before the age of 24, unless the family moves to California for work purposes.
Yeah… you guys are probably right regarding UC out of state. We will have to look further into this, speak w the school and explore all LEGAL possibilities. Definitely not looking to break laws in order for my kid to attend a UC school lol. Thanks for all the info!!
The focus of this post was primarily to express disappointment in Spelman’s aid in that my daughter’s qualifications were relatively high: uw 4.0 GPA , 88 percentile SAT tons of APs and extra curricular activities. I was expecting more grant $ to be awarded but I guess not.
She will probably get into a few other schools but I personally want her to attend Spelman for a variety of reasons
You could contact Spelman and ask whether a merit scholarship may be awarded later on, but I’m afraid it sounds like Spelman is unaffordable. 
I understand the disapointment and am very sorry.
There aren’t any legal possibilities to become a resident of California, unless you move to California (you, the parent). So many kids want to move there, they’ve made it impossible for them to get residency for tuition purpose.
Sounds like your daughter has excellent stats so fingers crossed for a good, affordable acceptance
Fortunately for us Spelman is affordable… I just didn’t want to come out of pocket :-*
There aren’t any legal ways to do what you want to with CA residency given what you’ve said in your posts.
@PackersLA,
Trust the numerous CC posters who have stated that there is NO way your DD will be instate for tuition. They know what they are talking about . All are long time CC posters.
Every year, some parents of UC OOS applicants figure there MUST be a way to get around the UC instate residency rules.
There isn’t one. period.