<p>So I am going to UCSC and they have sent me a financial aid package which follows:
Estimated Cal Grant B - Access Grant 1,551.00<br>
Federal Pell Grant Grant 5,550.00<br>
UC Santa Cruz Grant Grant 14,142.00<br>
UC Tuition Grant Grant 822.00<br>
Campus Merit-Caldwell Schlrshp Scholarship 1,500.00<br>
Federal Perkins Loan Loan 1,200.00<br>
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan Loan 3,500.00<br>
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Ln Loan 2,000.00<br>
Federal Work-Study Option Work/Study 1,500.00<br>
Aid Year Totals 31,765.00 </p>
<p>I come from a very low income family and I do not want to take out any loans. The aid I get is $200 dollars short of the total price to attend. My question is where is the Blue & Gold money in this...and I qualify for Cal Grant A but I am getting Cal Grant B-Access which is not that much money. What do i do?</p>
<p>Blue and Gold is merely a guarantee that your tuition costs are covered. Since you have a UC Santa Cruz Grant Grant of 14K, your tuition IS covered. If at some point the college decides to give you (for example) a 14K B&G scholarship instead, chances are that the other grant would be deleted. Same if you end up receiving a larger CalGrant–the same amount will almost definitely then be deleted from your UCSC 14K grant.</p>
<p>I guess my question is why you think there is something missing from your package–your costs are “covered” and this is a fairly standard and good package! Student loans, work study and other student contributions are a common part of financial aid packages from the UCs, and B&G does not mean “no student loans”.</p>
<p>Put another way, I doubt you will be getting more monies in such a way that your loans would be unnecessary, nor do I believe you will be getting more monies in such a way that the total offered would exceed an aid total of approx 31K.</p>
<p>No body wants to take loans, not even kids from modest middle class families. Your best bet is to try and earn enough money in the summers to be able to decline the 2K Unsub loan. You can also work a job during the school year above and beyond work-study. A very industrious student can earn at least 3K in a summer (my son earned 5K last summer) and the same if not more during the school year–use those monies to decline other parts of loans you don’t wish to take.</p>
<p>Cal Grant B is worth more than Cal Grant A ($6,204 more over four years to be precise). Your aid package is fairly typical for most of the low EFC students at a UC that I have seen. In fact, it’s on the high end of a lot of packages I’ve seen because of that scholarship you have. Average seems to be around $20k~. You have about $23.5k in money that doesn’t have to be paid back.</p>
<p>If you were to have them switch you to Cal Grant A, that UCSC Grant would be lowered that amount and there is no guarantee that the $1,551 would be added back in as grant. My guess is that “UC Tuition Grant” would be removed completely as well as it reads like it is part of the “kick in” to meet systemwide fees (although why they’re calling it tuition is beyond me since legally they can’t call UC fees for in-state students tuition). In other words: you could lose $1,551 in grant aid if you were to switch your Cal Grant type.</p>
<p>Blue&Gold is just a promise that your systemwide fees will be met through a combination of grant and/or scholarship. Cal Grant typically covers this. Since you have Cal Grant B which has a “shortfall” during the freshman year in regards to the tuition/fee assistance, UCSC is making up that amount with their own grant money and what appears to be general UC money (seems to come under different names; some UCs do call it “Blue and Gold,” but UCSC does not seem to be one of them). Blue&Gold is able to consider all grant aid and scholarships you receive as meeting its promise.</p>
<p>You need to look at the actual costs and not the estimated ones. The actual costs include all fees (systemwide and campus) and housing (don’t look at the estimate, look at the actual cost of housing for next year based on the room type and meal type you will want. The personal expenses, books, transportation, etc are all estimated and only you can determine what these costs will actually be for you. These are sometimes hugely inflated at some colleges (UCSC is one of them).</p>
<p>You got Blue and Gold…it’s a promise, not a grant.</p>
<p>Schools award Cal Grant A or B depending on what - in the end - gives the student the most money. Switching to the other will either mean the same amount or less.</p>
<p>You’ve been given a better pkg than most EFC 0</p>
<p>You really don’t have much choice with the loans since your family is unlikely going to pay those costs and you can’t earn enough in the summer to pay it.</p>
<p>Federal Perkins Loan Loan 1,200.00
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan Loan 3,500.00 </p>
<h2>Federal Direct Unsubsidized Ln Loan 2,000.00 </h2>
<p>Loans…6700 for frosh year</p>
<p>Federal Work-Study Option Work/Study 1,500.00 </p>
<p>Between loans, work study and your 200 “gap”, you’re expected to pay for about 7k of your college costs. That is a great deal. Keep in mind that the tax-payers really shouldn’t have to be paying for all of your college costs. You should have to pay for some of it. It’s not reasonable to expect tax payers to pay for all of your room, board, and personal expenses.</p>
<p>Your financial aid package is average. If you check out the cost of attending they over exaggerate the food/housing amount, transportation, and books/supplies (Kind of accurate, considering the price of text books). Those three are taken into consideration when you receive your package, so you could possibly get away with declining the loans, or just accept the subsidized one. However, what I just mentioned usually mean that you will be working at least part time off campus.</p>
<p>Room and board is only low if you choose the cheapest housing option that doesn’t require a meal plan (not available to frosh). Even then… it’s difficult. In my experience, the room and board cost is a fairly accurate estimate (mine would be higher if they didn’t have the rate saver option allowing me to use the previous year’s costs for housing). There are not that many quads and triples on campus. Most will wind up with a double and that’s what the estimate is based on.</p>
<p>From personal experience, unless there is already money to cover those loans such as an outside job, at least the subsidized should be taken. The cost to the university with on campus housing will be more than $23.5k even with the cheapest housing available.</p>