UCSC: Making it work.

Paying for College
1

<p>Been pretty stoked. I was accepted into UC Santa Cruz. While not my first choice, I'm super pumped that I am guaranteed a spot in the UC system this fall, assuming I pass my classes this semester :P </p>

<p>So as I said, UCSC is not my first choice. UC Davis is, since I already live in that area, and practically rent free at that.(My rent = paying for TV/Phone/Internet/ and my fair share of food). Now this is obviously going to have to change if I go to Santa Cruz. In addition to that, it also means leaving my job, although I was likely to do anyways for UCD if possible, because I want to dedicate my time entirely to my UC studies.</p>

<p>So some other stuff about myself and my financial situation. I'm 32 years old. I've been doing the CC thing part time while working as a delivery driver at a pizza place over the past 4 and a half years. So that employment should tell you something about my finances. They are pretty small. As a result of this and other financial burdens over the years, I have about $2,000 of credit card debt, am about to apply for a loan for a used car. (2005 Prius)</p>

<p>I'm grateful that I've been able to easily get a BOG waiver at CC. And extremely grateful for the pell grant I had through fasfa the previous years (didn't apply for it this year, since I took fall semester off and only took the 2 classes I needed for transfer this spring semester). But am I going to be able to get these same benefits when I transfer to University of California?</p>

<p>How will I be able to pay for school, room and board, car payments, etc without needing to get full time employment? Will I be able to get enough financial aid to get myself covered if I move to Santa Cruz?</p>

<p>And what about the student loan stuff. I have zero knowledge on student loans. Can I be turned down for student loans? It might sound irresponsible of me to say this, but I don't really mind accruing a sizable debt from loans, because I have my aspirations for what I want to do after getting my bachelors and I think that it's worth the financial hit. As long as I'm able to get the job I want after graduating (with the Japan Exchange and Teaching program and other ESL teaching positions around the far east and europe), then I will gladly live like a pauper in order to pay those loans back, since I consider that buying happiness. I'd wager a guess and say this is the same mentality everyone else who takes on college has. At least those paying for it out of their own pocket/loans. </p>

<p>So if anyone can help guide me to making fiscal sense of how I can make UC Santa Cruz work, I'd appreciate it.</p>

2

<p>What has UCSC offered you in financial aid? Loans and such are usually pretty spelled out in the financial aid offer. </p>

3

<p>Are you saying you have not yet filed a FAFSA for the fall2014/spring 2015 year? If you had, your aid package would have already been delivered or will shortly as they are behind schedule this year.</p>

<p>You really should take it upon yourself to read how the Federal Direct and Plus loans work. Anything you need to know about Federal Aid, Pell Grant and Loans are all pretty clearly laid out on the federal pages but it all starts with your FAFSA.
<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Thanks for the link BrownParent. </p>

<p>And yea, I had began my fasfa but never finished it on the account of me needing to finish my taxes. I just recently finished them (both taxes and fasfa) Hoping there won’t be too many hangups with it since I started it before the deadline.</p>

5

<p>You should contact UCSC’s financial aid office to see if they can deliver you a financial aid offer or an estimate. For a very preliminary estimate, you can use <a href=“http://www2.ucsc.edu/finaidcalc/calculator/”>http://www2.ucsc.edu/finaidcalc/calculator/&lt;/a&gt; , but the late submittal of the FAFSA could mean that UCSC’s financial aid office may not be too quick with the actual financial aid.</p>