<p>When you file your FAFSA, you will get an SAR, Student Aid Report. On it will be your EFC. If it is under $5000, you are eligible for a portion of the $5600 Pell grant. To to get the full Pell, your EFC would have to be $0. </p>
<p>There is no way for any of us to even guess your Pell eligibility without knowing your income.</p>
<p>And a piece of free advice…it would have been a TON easier to answer your questions if you had included that you were 24 in your first post. Just saying.</p>
<p>Understood, I had never applied for anything similar to this, I did not know these were factors. Whatever friend I know that went to school, just took out student loans. </p>
<p>Other factors…how much money do you have in your bank account? Those assets will count as well. </p>
<p>You just might end up taking out student loans. </p>
<p>The on,y bright spot is that you have completed two years already, and hopefully you can complete a degree in two more…thus reducing your loan amounts to only two years.</p>
<p>While you have been working 40 hours a week, have you been putting any money aside for college costs for UCLA?</p>
<p>@thumper1 How much is too much or not enough? I’ve been working for the State of CA, my job has been a caregiver. Pay isn’t great, it is basically min wage status. I thought about going back into the mortgage sector which I had 5 years of experience and make good money, but I believe my job as a care giver would be a life lesson. This is the issue, with my rental property, if I go to it, I would need a roommate to cover costs, because I still pay out of pocket to cover my mortgage even with a rental property. Getting a roommate is not really an issue though. TBH, I have not been able to save a lot. </p>
<p>
I would think you need to complete FAFSA for Financial Aid at UCLA or any Pell Grant. However, you may be an independent student, so you don’t need your parents’ data for your FAFSA. </p>
<p>Yeah, well I asked you upstream if you were 24 and you chose to ignore it. Instead of getting your info from friends you could have started with the federal aid pages. They lay out most of this info we are pulling teeth to get and then spoon feeding you. So would a CC financial aid officer. Go to the federal site and find the FAFSA forecaster. That would have taken you through the process to discover that you were considered independent of parents for financial aid and shown you an estimate of any federal grant and loan eligibility. Run it now to see what it looks like. But most importantly you have to get that FAFSA in as soon as you figure out the housing situation.</p>
<p>Here is the main page and there is a link on it to the FAFSA forcaster
<a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/</a></p>
<p>since you are over 24, you can borrow about $11k as an incoming junior. You need to save your income and use that towards any uncovered college costs.</p>
<p>We were confused because you made it sound like all you needed was a couple thousand in scholarships which suggested to us that your parents were paying the rest. You needed to be more clear from the beginning. we ddnt even know that you live near UCLA or were over 24 (so parents income isnt considered) until a much later post. You’ll get better info when you tell the details at the beginning.</p>
<p>In the OP’s defense, if you don’t know age is an important factor why would you include it? We know because we’ve been on the boards for a while.</p>
<p>Apologizes to all who became confused from initial post because it was not detailed. </p>
<p>I ran the FAFSA yesterday and got this message. Based on the eligbility criteria you may be eligible for the following… Pell Grant Estimate- 5,7300… Direct Stafford Loan Estimate 12,500</p>
<p>Check Calgrants too. You missed the deadline, but appeal as you are transferring from cc to a UC. With a zero EFC and the transfer and other mitigating factors in the mix, you just might get the appeal approved. CC kids do get a september deadline but you aren’t at CC anymore. You have until 5/15 to appeal.</p>
<p>"" ran the FAFSA yesterday and got this message. Based on the eligbility criteria you may be eligible for the following… Pell Grant Estimate- 5,7300… Direct Stafford Loan Estimate 12,500""</p>
<p>something doesnt sound right. did you say earlier that your work full time, you have rental property and you have rental income? If so, how could your efc be low.</p>
<p>what is your income from work?</p>
<p>what is your income from rental property?</p>
<p>and what is the rental property worth?</p>
<p>do you have any children?</p>
<p>“I own a rental property and work 40 hours a week”</p>
<p>there is practically no way that a single full time employee can qualify for full Pell…or any Pell…especially with rental property.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids </p>
<p>40 Hours a Week started at the start in August, prior to that I was not employed for a period.
As for my rental property, I am currently upside down on the property, it generates zero income, in fact, the rent I get, I still pay out of pocket to cover the mortgage. </p>
<p>Long story short, I lowered my rent to the tenant so he would re-new the lease. During the period when I was not employed, I had sold off a car, and basically opened a few cards to get by and just pay the min due. When I got a job, I been paying off my debts. </p>