Financial Aid Calculator

With student fees expected to rise and many families’ incomes and savings funds dropping, financial aid for higher education is becoming more important. Recognizing that, University of California officials unveiled a new on-line calculator to help students and their parents plan for the costs of attending a UC campus and receive an early estimate on how much aid they might receive.

Estimators for each UC campus can be found at: www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying.html.

A student enters basic information about family, such as income and assets, family size and the number of other family members enrolled in college. The tool then displays a possible financing plan, including estimates on grant assistance, the amount the student would be expected to contribute through work and loans and expected parent contribution.

The 10-campus University of California last week released a report that projected a 9.4% hike for most in-state student fees for the 2009-10 school year. That would bring undergraduates’ average system- wide and campus charges to $8,670, not including housing and food. Room, board, books and other expenses can add $12,000 to $14,000 to that.

Beware, however, that the on-line estimators is just that, an estimator that comes with no guarantees. To receive financial aid, students must still apply by filing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a Cal Grant GPA Verification Form before March 2, 2009, to be considered for aid for the 2009-10 academic year.

The university says it dedicates one-third of all fee increases to financial aid and reports that more than half of its undergraduates receive aid.

“We want to reassure parents and students that as California’s only public research university, UC takes very seriously its responsibility to keep a world-class education within reach of the state’s families,” UC system president Mark Yudof said in a prepared statement.

--Larry Gordon

Comments

[Beeswax]

Why did CSU Chancellor Charles Reed return $31.3 million to the State of California last month and now says CSU faces a huge budget shortfall?
http://www.calfac.org/allpdf/headlines/2008/headlines_102708sp.pdf