<p>UC Santa Cruz Grants for undergraduate students are funded by the University of California and are offered based on financial need. Students must meet application deadlines to be considered for grants. Other UC grants include grants under the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan for students whose family total income is less than $80,000 and the UC Tuition Grant for students whose family income is less than $120,000. Under the Blue and Gold Plan, students are guaranteed to receive enough gift aid from all sources to cover UC tuition and fees. The UC Tuition Grant covers part of the tuition increase for qualified students.</p>
<p>I got both those grants last year and this year, my financial aid package does not have either of those. My parents' total income from 2011 is around $77,000 (unless my own income of $5000 bumped that up above $80,000 which it shouldn't since I'm a dependent student; even then I should've at least received the UC Tuition Grant). Now my parents and I are stressed that we have to pay everything. What should I do? Is it still possible to call the financial aid office and have them relook at my family's financial information?</p>
<p>Are you a Calif resident? Are you a citizen or green card holder?</p>
<p>If so, then call the UC aid offce and ask.</p>
<p>Do your parents have a lot of assets? What was your FAFSA EFC? I think the B&G promise also says that you must have financial need, and if you have a lot of assets, you may not have need.</p>
<p>Yes I am a California resident and US citizen. I’m not sure how many is “a lot” of assets, but they have some but it is not under their name, but under a business name. Those assets are other houses which we have to pay back in loans to the bank monthly.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the forum here is not the voice that counts – it is the administrator of your college financial aid office. So email the college Fin aid office (I say email so that you can clearly give your name and student number and you will have a written response). </p>
<p>Once you get your response, you can begin the process of sorting your options. They will tell you if you are missing some paperwork – if not, ask for a meeting to go over the forms with someone. It can happen that a parent or a worker can enter a wrong number. </p>
<p>Be cordial, organized and persistent. Keep a record of every contact and a copy of</p>
<p>I’d prefer it if I could send an email, but my financial aid office doesn’t accept emails so I have to make a phone call.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing, even with the assets my parents have, we had the same assets last year. The only thing different this year is we have a lower income, and we’re missing roughly $12k in grants compared to last year. That does not make sense to me.</p>
<p>Look at your FAFSA. What degree did you say you are pursuing? Does it say first undergraduate degree? Sometimes students incorrectly check the graduate degree box, because they plan to get a grad degree … but they are currently working on an undergrad degree. This can keep you from getting awarded correctly (it’s done by computer).</p>
<p>Other reasons include a change in EFC that pushes you up enough to no longer qualify for these grants, a GPA that doesn’t qualify (if there is a GPA minimum), or missing the financial aid deadline. From your post, though, it sounds like the grants go off parent income, so if the income was correctly reported on FAFSA, the EFC/income reason wouldn’t apply to you. Maybe you reported your income incorrectly on your FAFSA — look at that. If family income does include the student’s income, you would still qualify for the UC tuition grant, right?</p>
<p>Was your FAFSA verified? Look at it now … did the school change the parent income information?</p>