Looking for an Job or Internship?

Financial Aid

Financial Aid for College

Financial Aid is a general term encompassing all different sources of money to help you pay for your education in college and some trade schools. While most colleges expect you and your family to contribute toward your education, financial aid can help narrow the gap between your resources and the costs. The following types of financial aid (usually distinguished between need-based or non-need based aid) are available from the federal government, state government, colleges/institutions and private sources:

GRANTS: Free money for college that you don't have to repay and are typically based on financial need (per your FAFSA or the CSS Profile Form - see below). They are given by the federal/state government as well as colleges/universities.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Free money for college and usually based on your area of study/merit or affiliations, such as good grades, high test scores, athletic, musical or other special talents, leadership, community service, a community you belong to, and sometimes financial need. They are given by local, state or national private organizations.

WORK STUDY: Federal aid program that allows you to earn money, usually not more than a few thousand dollars, during a school year through certain jobs on or off campus to help pay for your education. You can find related job postings at the Career Center of the college or university.

LOANS: Borrowed money with interest that you must pay back. Be cautious of private loans with high interest rates. It's recommended not to take on more than $10k in student debt per school year to earn a Bachelor's degree. Otherwise, public universities or two years at a community college first is a wiser financial option.

UC Financial Aid Calculators

These calculators provide a quick and easy way to estimate the amounts and types of financial aid you might receive, based on your personal information, from each UC campus. The values produced are not the actual amounts you will be offered and are subject to the availability of funding.

Estimate your aid | UC Admissions (universityofcalifornia.edu)

Calculate the Net Price for Private or Public Colleges Before Applying

Each college or university has a different calculation on the net price (after financial aid) that a student/family has to pay per academic year. Estimate the net cost to attend a certain college, especially private ones, before you invest the time, energy, and resources into applying. If you are from a low-income or single-parent family and have good grades, you might be pleasantly surprised. You can also look at the Common Data Set of each college by school year to see how much need-based and non-need based aid it gave that year.

Net Price Calculator Center (ed.gov)

Saving for college...

SEC.gov | An Introduction to 529 Plans

Scholarshare 529 College Savings Plan:

Students and their families are encouraged to save money for college expenses. ScholarShare, the state-administered 529 college savings plan, provides families with a tax-advantaged way to deposit after-tax contributions to save for future college expenses. Earnings, if any, are tax-deferred and disbursements, when used for tuition and other qualified higher education expenses, are federal and state tax-free. You can open an account with as little as $15 when setting up automatic investments and choose from a number of low-cost investment options that allow you to watch the investment grow over time. The money can then be used at any accredited college nationwide as well as many international schools.

CSS Profile for Institutional Financial Aid:

The CSS Profile form is required by some colleges, usually private ones, to provide them with more detailed information about the financial status of the student's family so that the colleges can make a more informed decision about the need-based financial aid they can offer you. Depending on your situation and the particular college, the Profile form might be an addition to the FAFSA. See Home – CSS Profile | College Board. Once you have submitted the Profile form, the university, through the College Board, might ask you to upload your tax and other financial documents via a secured site called IDOC. See here: Institutional Documentation Service (IDOC) Overview | Slides (collegeboard.org)

Begin Your FAFSA Form

✔️ Step 1: Create a Federal Student ID
In order to complete the FAFSA, the high school senior student and ONE parent will individually need a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID # first, which you can get here but may take a day or two to process: Create Account | Federal Student Aid

If you have trouble getting your FSA ID, here is the CSAC User Reference Guide.

Here is a 6 1/2 minute video of how to create a FASA ID: How to Create a FASA ID

✔️ Step 2 :How to Complete Your FAFSA

Event recordings from Coalition for Colllege: Event Recordings | Coalition for College (coalitionforcollegeaccess.org)

Here are a couple of short informative videos (~30 minutes each) about the newly designed 2024-25 school year financial aid application for college:

2024-2025 FAFSA Simplification Webinar for Campus and Community Partners

By the Cal State University Fullerton Office of Financial Aid

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=DfHQpXC6mFA

2024-2025 FAFSA: Updates and How You Can Prepare

By the University of San Francisco (CA) Financial Aid Office

https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=tNOlhyVfO7k

✔️ Step 3: After the FAFSA: What Happens Next?