Ms. Sun's Admission Blog for Highly Selective California Public Universities - Financial Aid Update

For in-depth discussion of financial aid and scholarship opportunities, see my post Show Me the Money!

FAFSA - FAFSA4caster

Federal Student Aid (the people who brought you the ever confusing FAFSA form) has launched FAFSA4caster to help students and parents get an early start on the financial aid process:

FAFSA4caster will help you get an early start on the financial aid process by providing you with an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student aid.

In addition, FAFSA4caster will increase your knowledge of the financial aid process and provide information about other sources of aid.

To get an early start yourself, check out the FAFSA4caster at http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/

UC Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan

The The UC system has implemented the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan starting this year. Under this plan, students whose family income is below $60,000 will receive enough scholarships and grants to fully cover their UC fees for the first 4 years of college (2 years for transfers). Of course, the expensive part of an UC education is not the fees but the housing and everything else.

For a more detailed explanation of the plan, see: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/article/19471/

Student portal for the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/blueandgold/

Financial Aid Pledges to Reduce Student Debt

The Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the Institute for College Access and Success, has compiled a list of colleges that have "developed financial aid policies that limit or eliminate student loans from financial aid packages, reducing costs for students and families." Take a look at all your options (over 50 colleges listed), but be cautious of other potential shortfalls.

Financial Aid Pledges to Reduce Student Debt: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php

How Pledges Can Fail: http://projectonstudentdebt.org/initiative_page_view.php?initiative_idx=&initiative_page_idx=15