More Aid?

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From CalMatters: UCLA student Dulce Jimenez didn’t file a federal student aid application for the 2020-21 school year; she was set to graduate in spring, and thought the days of worrying about paying for school would be behind her. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Jimenez found herself dropping a class, then needing to make it up during the summer — just when her parents’ work hours had been reduced. 

Paying for a class out of pocket would add to her family’s financial stress, Jimenez said. “I am concerned about having to pay for my educational costs because things are really tight for my parents, so they would not be able to help me,” she said.  

So Jimenez asked UCLA to revisit her financial aid, becoming one of a growing number of University of California and California State University students appealing their aid packages as their families face economic fallout from COVID-19. Officials at both universities say financial aid appeals are up systemwide, with especially dramatic increases on some campuses. By the end of spring quarter, UC Riverside students had filed twice as many financial aid appeals as they had the year before. At UCLA, financial aid director Ina Sotomayor said requests for additional funding for the fall are already up by 36%.

Many students filing appeals are coping with unemployment. About 71% of returning college students in California say they have lost some or all of their income due to the pandemic, according to a recent survey of 76,000 students by the California Student Aid Commission. Thirty-four percent say they’ll need to work more in the fall to afford educational and living expenses, while 21% think they should attend a college that is less expensive...

The federal CARES Act has bolstered campuses’ financial aid budgets; California’s public colleges and universities received more than $680 million to distribute in grants to students, doling it out in chunks of $150 to about $2,000. Colleges have also sought aid from private donors — UC Berkeley raised $1 million in donations for emergency grants to undocumented and international student. But some financial aid officers said they worried about keeping up with the need if colleges don’t get another round of federal stimulus money.

UC Davis financial aid director Deborah Agee said that she encourages students with unmet need to take loans, noting that the default rate for students at the campus is under two percent. “I like to remind students that you need that money to complete your education. You should take it,” she said...

Full story at https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2020/07/financial-aid-appeals-california-students-coronavirus/