Blue and Gold Program

Transfer Students UC Transfers
1

<p>There seems to be a lot of confusion about the Blue & Gold Opportunity Program. I just called UCLA and asked about it b/c my ePAL only reflects $1800 in aid, the rest is loans ($22k). I asked about B&G because I <em>know</em> that I qualify. </p>

<p>Here is what the rep said:

  1. B&G is for enrolled students ONLY, so basically, if you know that you qualify, you have to submit your SIR and wait. Once updated, your financial aid package should update and reflect B&G.<br>
  2. B&G is applied to in-state FEES only. No living, transportation, misc. costs. It will only cover the fees (aka tuition).
  3. If the other FREE aid that you have recieved already meets the cost of the fees, B&G will not apply to you. Your fees have already been covered. </p>

<p>If you have any additional/conflicting info, please post it here. </p>

<p>I also found this on UCLA’s website: </p>

<p>Dear New Bruin,
Congratulations on your admission to UCLA! In order to meet our commitment to ensuring access to education for
admitted students, University of California’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan will cover student fees with grant and/or
scholarship funds for all in-state residents. In order to be eligible, students must meet the following criteria:
�� Complete Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by March 2, 2009
�� Apply for Cal Grant (state grants)
�� Have sufficient financial need as calculated by the federal methodology
�� Have family income below $60,000. Total income may be based on adjustments made by the Financial Aid
Office during verification process under professional judgment provision. For dependent students, parent
income is used. For independent students, student income is used.
�� Student must be enrolled in an academic year term. Blue and Gold Plan does not extend to summer months.
�� Student must meet basic, non-financial, eligibility requirements (at least half-time enrollment, meeting
Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, not already holding a bachelor’s degree and not in default on any
prior loans or owing refunds).
Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan funding will be provided for 4 years (12 quarters) to entering freshmen, 3 years (9
quarters) to sophomores, 2 years (6 quarters) for junior transfers and 1 year (3 quarters) for seniors who meet the
above criteria on an annual basis. If you are an entering student who meets these criteria and your ePAL does not
reflect sufficient scholarship and/or grant funding to cover your fees, rest assured that UCLA Financial Aid Office will
make the necessary revisions to your award before the start of Fall Quarter.
You can find additional information on the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan at
[UC</a> Blue and Gold Opportunity](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/blueandgold/]UC”>Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan | UC Admissions). Please contact us at 310-206-0400 or <a href=“mailto:finaid@saonet.ucla.edu”>finaid@saonet.ucla.edu</a> if
you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Financial Aid Office</p>

2

<p>So basically if Cal Grant already covers all tuition fees, the B&G won’t apply at all? From reading their website, I was under the impression they would cover living expenses, transportation, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks for clearing that up.</p>

3

<p>Both reps that I spoke with at UCLA said fees only, yet a couple websites state otherwise. It seems like there is still a lot of confusion about this program, even among UC employees. I just e-mailed them to ask them to look at my file and let me know if I qualify before I submit my SIR. I will let you know what their response is.</p>

4

<p>good stuff sunshine, i am confused on whether they pay for only tuition or everything else as well.</p>

5

<p>do we apply for this or is it automatically done through FA?</p>

6

<p>if you have submitted your fafsa and cal grant, you are automatically signed up for B&G</p>

7

<p>King, my understanding is that every student is automatically issued B&G funds as long as they qualify.</p>

8

<p>Did anyone find the answer to this question?</p>

9

<p>My question is, how can we afford this program?!</p>

10

<p>Wow…that sucks. I too was under the impression that they would cover more than tuition, all my scholarships do that already, grr. @__@</p>

<p>Thanks for the information tho! [:</p>

11

<p>i guess california can afford it because they raised tuition by 9%??</p>

12

<p>i hav ea question. do fees include room and board? because tahts like 12k. will blue and gold cover the cost of that too?</p>

13

<p>^
No, she said only tuition. Room and board are different costs.</p>

14

<p>Thanks for that info! I was wondering about that…</p>

15

<p>Is the BLUE/GOLD program only offerred to the UC School Systems or is it also available to students in the State School Systems? Just curious? I have a Cumalitive 3.89 GPA and with finish with a 4.1 GPA. I scored low with an Sat of 450, 520 420 and an ACT composite pf 21 with a 19 as English writing score. I know I should have worked harder to take get those scores up, but man…I missed the top automatic 9% of the automatice UC acceptance by what? .11 percent and my GPA will achieve that by June which is too late. But the question still remains, does the Blue/Gold system only apply to the UC System?</p>

16

<p>@william Yes, it’s only for the UC system
[Blue</a> + Gold Opportunity Plan | UC Admissions](<a href=“http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html]Blue”>http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/paying-for-uc/financial-aid/grants/blue-gold/index.html)</p>

17

<p>There are no programs that offer grants to students at Cal States. If you go to one you will have to be able to pay all costs out of your own resources or try to get loans to cover your costs. One of the major reasons the CSUs have such low four year graduation rates is because a large proportion of students work since a job is the only financing available to them.</p>

18

<p>Does anybody know if the $80k income level for Blue and Gold holds true if there are multiple children in college? (do they raise the income threshold with siblings also in college?)</p>