Financial Aid Questions

Paying for College
1

Hi, I have some questions on FinAid, a quick background.

Independent, EFC=0000000
Ca resident
GPA qualifies for all GPA based aid
Transfer from CC to University in the fall

According to FAFSA my
Pell Grant Estimate = $5,370
Direct Stafford Loan Estimate =$12,000
Cal Grant A/B= not disclosed

The Pell Grant that I receive right now is pretty similar to the estimate for next year.
I’m confused why a Cal Grant isn’t estimated from the FAFSA I just filled out?
I currently get 1,400 in Cal Grant B
and I have a board of governors fee waiver that covers the cost of my units (1,288 total)

Questions:
Do I need to submit my GPA to all the schools in order receive a “quote” for Cal Grants or is my school supposed to do this?
I’ve read conflicting information on this and schools aren’t in session yet.

Direct Stafford Loans-I really don’t have a question here but I have no interest in taking out loans, especially with interest, if I can avoid it. Does anyone have any literature on schools loans from previous experience that may be useful for me to read?

Blue and Gold Plan-Okay, so to my knowledge, BGP is more of a guarantee rather than a plan. From what I’ve read, if I qualify, the state will gather multiple financial resources together to cover the costs of tuition. To my knowledge, it ONLY covers tuition, not living expenses (housing, food, etc.) can anyone confirm this? I read that if parents, or myself in this case, make less than 80k and you qualify…what is the “and” part of this? What do I need to do/have (or not do/have) to make less than 80k AND qualify?

To my knowledge, Cal Grant B is for books, living expenses. So if I qualify for B, which I have for the last two years, would that be separate from the blue and gold plan?

Extra Scholarships-Are you familiar with any other scholarships? I just filled out an application on ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ and am looking through the different ones. If I can humbly say, I’m a great writer, so if you have any links to scholarships for short essays please bring them on. What about corporation scholarships? I know google has some, and I’ve seen others for engineering majors. Does anyone know of any for students interested in business/finance related fields?

That’s all I can think of for now. If I have another question I’ll post it

2

I will try my best but you might get more and better answers if you check back tomorrow"

FAFSA is a federal form, it doesn’t estimate state grants, to my knowledge.

From what I have seen from other kids, when the university sends your financial aid estimate, they will estimate the calgrant. But I have only seen freshman packages. But you should be able to figure out your calgrant amount yourself. Go to calgrant website.

Federal loans will almost always be in your package. They certainly will be for UCs. They are usually kept to a reasonable amount of 5 or 6k. If you can find the money elsewhere you are not required to take loans, but that’s on you. If you decline loans you will have a gap in your package to fill.

In addition to loans you will be expected to come up with 2 to 3k of summer earnings and expected to do some school year work/study. Again, you don’t have to if you can find the money elsewhere or just live on less.

Don’t worry about BGP it is nothing specific. Just see what you get in aid. BGP or not, you will get whatever federal aid you are entitled to, what optional fed aid they may have to assist you, calgrant if eligible, university grant and self help. For transfer I think likely you will get calgrant A but not sure on those details, too tired to recall, too lazy to look it up–you can though. No there is no separate plan for BGP in addition to regular entitlements, there is just the aid you get that you are eligible for and that they have onhand to give. You will never get a package that has designated blue&gold aid, there is no such thing.

You will have to hunt scholarships on your own. Don’t overlook ones in your community, Rotary, local bank, etc.

3

[QUOTE=""]
I'm confused why a Cal Grant isn't estimated from the FAFSA I just filled out?

[/QUOTE]

FAFSA is a FEDERAL form. The calculation results would not include all the various states’ aid.

As for B&G, don’t worry about the “and” part unless you have a ton of assets. That “and qualify” part refers to people who earn less than $80k but have huge assets and therefore do not qualify for aid.

You will likely get a good FA pkg from a UC…Cal Grant (tuition), Pell Grant, and maybe even a UC grant, loans, and maybe work-study.

does your CC know about any scholarships from your community??

4

Thanks to both of you!
Will look into it some more, and yes I called my cc today and they provided me with a link for local scholarships.
THanks

5

if you already got calgrant last year, you’ll be automatically renewed next year as long as you complete FAFSA by March 2.
Quick question: how many calgrant’s year have you’ve taken already? Calgrant only give you 4 years. So if you haven’t taken calgrant this year and you’re transferring next year, don’t taket it! The amount will be increased up to 10k if I remember correctly.

I read this blog and think it may help somehow to overcome these 2 years transfer:

http://■■■■■■■■■■■■/home/financial-aid-for-community-college-students/

I’m pretty much in same situation as you, I posted same thread about this problem. This is what I’m going to do for next year:

I wouldn’t worry much about tuition, so what left is living expense. I make 2 plans:

  • Plan 1: School financial aid. I believe it’s separate from FAFSA. It is based on the questions about scholarship in the UC apps you turned in on Nov. They will inform how much you’ll get when the admission decision comes out.
  • Plan 2: Work study. Though UC schedule maybe heavier, it’s durable if I work around 10-20h per week. At least it can cover half of living expense.
    Of course I’ll cut all unnecessary expenses when transferring.

Like you, I have no interest on taking loan but if there’s no option left, I would take whatever offer so that I can finish school early and earn more with my BS. I was stressed about it but then my friend told me you need to sacrifice something to achieve the goal. Everything can’t be perfect. Hopefully plan 1 & 2 can cover most of living expense. If they all fail, I would never hesitate to take loans. I can do much more if completing a BS degree.

Extra scholarship: check a website of the schools you’re applying. Check your school’s website, financial aid office also. They always have at least one. My current cc school have scholarship. I can get 1k or 2k from it.
The point is to utilize all the sources around you!

6

@bizmlover‌ yea, this is my second year on FAFSA so I’ll have my final two years when I transfer.

I agree, as I look more into it, tuition will probably not be a problem for me. I do plan to do work study but would have a hard time accepting loans. I’m sure I can make up the rest of the money through different streams of income and summer internships etc.

I’ll look more into school scholarships, thank you !!