I am an UC student who will be senior this upcoming fall (I transferred Last fall).
My EFC is 0 (determined by FAFSA)
I became independent student this year
I live with parents who have no income.
I used up almost all eligibility years for Cal Grant in comunity college (stupid me).
I submitted application for FAFSA and Cal Grant in a timely manner.
My status is as same as last year except that I am now an independent student
Last Year when I first entered the UC, I received about 17k of financial aid (combination of 0.3 year worth of Cal Grant, UC Grant, Pell Grant, and $1000 of chansellor scholarship).
But this year, I was offered only 8k of aid. And I was offered 12k of loans. I really don’t get why they reduced my aid so greatly all of sudden. As far as I know, I am eligible for Blue and Gold and at least systemwide tuition should be covered in worst case scenario. But it looks like not even Blue and Gold Plan is properly applied to my award package.
I am starting to realize I really don’t like this school because this school gives me so much stress about FA package every year between July-August. I even feel like this school is just luring new students with attractive award for the first year and then doesn’t give a damn about those attracted students after their first year. I never got any grade below -A in any course since the day I transferred to UC and this is UC’s way of awarding student’s hard work? By reducing financial aid greatly? Had I known this earlier, I would’ve gone to CSU, which offers more affordable tuition and teachs more practical knowledge.
Based on the info I provided above, I want to hear what you guys think before I visit FA office. Is there any possible reason why my award reduced so greatly?
I got Pell Grant this year as usual so no problem with Pell Grant.
Cal Grant is missing this year, but I expected this because I knew I used up all my eligibile years of Cal Grant.
Chancellor’s scholarship (only $1000) is missing as well but it was like one time scholarship so it is understandable.
But what I don’t understand is that I only got less than 3k of UC Grant this year. I got over 7k last year.
According to Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, eligible student’s systemwide tuition ($12,000) must be covered by gift aid. In other word, I should get no less than $12,000 of gift aid. But I only got little over 8k of gift aid which I think is not make sense.
By the way, Cal Grant was not significant part of package. Even if you subtract Cal Grant and Scholarship from my last year’s package, it is still higher than this year’s
Ultimately, you are going to need to consult with your school’s financial aid office to get the specific answers you are looking for. Here is what I am thinking though: since you are now an independent student, the federal government allows for an increase in the loan amounts you are able to borrow. It could be that the UC reduced their grant amount as they saw you were eligible for increased loan funding. However, I am not entirely familiar with how UC’s package their students and it does seem to contradict with the Blue and Gold plan statues.
FA office has just replied to my email that I sent 3 days ago. They say they forwarded my inquiry to the counsellor. So looks like I have to wait again. I can’t believe it took them 3 days to just forward the message to the counsellor. I thought they were doing some kind of investigation already. I’ll let you guys know when I hear from them. Thx.
I work in a financial aid office at a school much smaller than yours, and it can absolutely take 3 days at this time of year for any inquiries to be read/responded to/forwarded to the correct party. This is the busiest time of the year for financial aid staff, so you’ll have to be patient.
Hi, guys. I went to see my FA counselor today and everything was adjusted in a minute. Now that my UC Grant is properly adjusted, I am getting about 14K of Grant and 10k of sub/unsub loans. I should’ve scheduled an appoinment in the first place rather than emailing the office. If anyone is having problem with their FA, I confidently suggest you visit the FA office to see your advisor rather than just emailing or calling.
Thank you for the interest on my issue, guys.
I am very pleased that everything is resolved well:)