So I just got accepted to UC Riverside and I’m hoping to go there. However, UC’s are reallyyyyyy expensive. My mom makes 30k a year for a family of 4. I got the full pell grant money for FAFSA and even got the Cal Grant A which is about $12,000. Still, that leaves me with over $10,000 a year I just can’t afford (My EFC was $0). So, how likely is it that I will get the UC blue and gold scholarship? How will I know if I got it or not?
The Blue and Gold Plan is simply a promise that your tuition will be covered. The Cal Grant covers your tuition, so the promise has been met.
However, the school may choose to give you a small UC grant as well. You will also be given loans and likely work study, so that will cover about $7-8k.
The COA is padded so you can economize to reduce costs…, and there’s an expectation that you will need to work/save over the summer to pay for books and other costs.
You, the student who will be benefitting from this education, are expected to contribute something toward your education. This is a good time to start looking for a summer job, and it may mean start working now with the promise of more working hours during the summer.
So the blue and gold isn’t a grant itself? I can’t use it to pay for my tuition, then use the cal grant to pay for other things like housing?
Blue and Gold is not a grant. It’s a promise. It’s a promise that your UC system-wide fees/tuition will be covered.
Your Cal Grant is a tuition award, so your tuition is covered thru Cal Grant…and the B&G promise has been met.
Run the UC net price calculator and copy/paste the results here.
If your tuition is covered, then the Pell and student loan can cover your housing and food.
This.
Wait and see what your final financial aid award is, and then make your decision. If it’s still too expensive, then you go to a local CC for two years (so you can continue to live at home), and then transfer to a UC for junior year. Not as exciting, I know, as going away to a UC immediately . . . but a heck of a lot less expensive!
UCR may still be doable. I dont know what their R&B is, but if it’s too high, maybe cheaper off campus housing can be found. The UCs have a rep of having high R&B.
The student has to understand that students are expected to cover some of their colleges costs because they will ultimately be the ones who’ll benefit. It’s just the way it is. Schools rarely provide “free money aid” for the entire COA. Schools don’t want to pay for your toothpaste, shampoo, and trips home for the holidays.
Yes, try and work this summer to have money for necessities, books, transportation, etc.
Based on the very simple UCR NPC, you should be getting about $23,700 in total grants, leaving a net cost of about $11,700. (Assumptions: single parent, 4 in household, 1 in college)
^^
can you copy paste those results here?
Sample Financial Aid for 2015-16
Estimated student cost of attendance, based on 2015-16 expenses
Tuition and Fees $15181
Room and Board $15700
Books and Supplies $1700
Other Expenses $2800
Total Cost of Attendance $35381
Estimated grant and/or scholarship assistance: $23705
Estimated net cost: (remaining cost after grants and scholarships) $11676
Hello, I got my financial aid report and I am getting receiving about 27k (5 Pell Grant, 12 CAL grant, and 9 UCR grant) I am blessed to receive this kind of aid! However I still have a EFC of $0, in addition to work study, how can I put less of a strain on my mother with the leftover $9k or so?
Btw I’m living on campus.
You can take the $5500 Direct Loan for,your freshman year…and you can get a part time job.
^ Yep, that $9k is the usual student contribution (expected of every UC student).
You take your student loan of 5.5k plus earn 2,5k in summer plus earn 1,5k during school year = 9k. Nothing from your mom needed. This is what most students on aid have to deal with for 4 years.
And/or you reduce your expenses. Spend less on ‘other expense’, buy used texts or rent then, move off campus after freshman year to nearby cheaper shared apartments and save quite a bit on dorming and/or meals, making some of your own and maybe doing a partial meal plan for socializing and grabbing lunch at school.
Is the net cost what you really have to pay or an estimate? Cause I was looking into it and the cost for room and board was estimated at about 16000. But if I live on campus I’m going to be living in the cheapest apartments ucr offers which is between 600-680 a month which in total for the 10 months will end up being about 6000. Can’t the other 10,000 be allocated to my other expenses? :-S
You mean like food? That’s the “board” part of room and board. The $6,000 spent on the cheapest apartments at UCR doesn’t put food on the table.