The new financial aid application was supposed to be easier to use. But thousands of students with undocumented parents are locked out.
We’re a big state with big challenges. Each morning we explain the top issues and how Californians are trying to solve them.One weekly email, all the Golden State newsGet the news that matters to all Californians. Start every week informed.Ashley Estrada, 18, will graduate from Diego Rivera High School in South LA in 2024.
“I don’t know who to call,” said Estrada, whose parents earn little money. “Because I already talked to all the adults around me and everyone’s just telling me to wait, and they don’t have an answer for me.” The typical low-income student caught in the federal technology imbroglio stands to lose as much as $14,000 in state tuition waivers known as theand $7,400 through the federal Pell Grant, plus the ability to borrow subsidized loans and other tools to afford college. Also on the line is a“This is a major concern for the financial aid community across the country,” said Jose Aguilar, the financial aid director for UC Riverside.
Both he and Cal State’s systemwide director of financial aid, Gonzalez, said the state should extend the deadline for the Cal Grant. Aguilar added that the student aid commission could also identify students who missed the Cal Grant deadline because their parents aren’t citizens and allow them to submit an appeal.
If no fix emerges before students enroll this fall, Aguilar’s plan is to temporarily cover the loss of the Pell Grant with UC’s internal aid. The university will give students deadlines to complete the FAFSA once the problems with it are fixed. If students don’t complete the FAFSA, they will be stuck with a bill equal to the amount in Pell money UC Riverside provided.
Marcos Montes is a policy director for the Southern California College Attainment Network, an umbrella group of nonprofits. He was helping a student and her undocumented mother apply for FAFSA, to no avail. The student grew frustrated that she may not qualify for any financial aid.
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