Feb 12, 2012 | 01:07
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Jan 22, 2009
Yudof proposes more aid for financially strapped undergrads
Too many high-achieving but low-income high school students qualify for a UC education, but don’t even apply — believing that they can’t afford it.To encourage more of these students to apply, UC President Mark G. Yudof is proposing scholarship and grant assistance to fully cover
UC President Mark G. Yudof
In a conference call with reporters on Jan. 22, Yudof discussed the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which will offer aid to undergraduates in their first four years of attendance at UC or for two years for community college transfer students. While the plan is still in development, Yudof said he hopes to bring the proposal to the UC regents for a vote at their Feb. 3-5 meeting.
On the same day, Chancellor Gene Block announced a UCLA fundraising initiative, the Bruin Scholars Initiative, which aims to generate $500 million for graduate student fellowships and undergraduate scholarships by June 30, 2013.
The offer of more financial assistance to students comes at a time when more students report having to get jobs in order to cover their college expenses, according to the latest UCLA survey of the nation's entering students at four-year institutions. The survey, which was released publicly on Jan. 22, is administered nationally by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA's Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. "Some are also choosing to forgo their first choice (of colleges to attend) because of concern about the lack of resources or financial aid," said John H. Pryor, co-author of the report.
Yudof's proposal establishes a minimum level of gift assistance for eligible resident students – currently numbering about 48,100. Many of these students already receive Pell or Cal Grants, which the new program would supplement. In addition to having their systemwide fees covered, eligible students will receive additional grant support for expenses such as books, housing, food and transportation costs.
“We’re filling in the gaps,” Yudof said. “If you don’t fit into all the corners of Pell and Cal, we’ll take care of it. You can go into the application process knowing that if your family earns less than $60,000 a year, you’re going to get the aid you need.”
He added: “I have spent a lot of time with low-income students. My primary fear is that there’s a conversation that takes place among family members at the kitchen table. They sit down and calculate, 'Could I afford to apply to UC?' Oftentimes the answer is no. Students that are well-qualified don’t apply because they think they can’t afford it.”
A greater focus on financial assistance is especially important during these tough economic times, Yudof said.
“We have high levels of unemployment in the state and country, and screeching headlines about the economy. We are fearful that when a low-income family sees that, they won’t apply to UC.”
National data demonstrate that low-income families tend to overestimate the cost of going to college. In the top-performing quartile of all students, low-income students attend college significantly less than higher-income students.
“We can’t correct all world’s injustices,” Yudof said, “but we want to get the word out there to students, families and guidance counselors that that if you get accepted, you’re in pretty good shape.”
The plan would cost UC an estimated $3.1 million per year. It would be funded by increasing the amount of new fee revenue that UC sets aside for financial aid from 33 percent to 36 percent.
The plan, Yudof noted, would not reduce funding available for UC's existing aid programs. UC currently provides grant and scholarship assistance averaging $10,300 per recipient to 54 percent of its undergraduates. The university also will continue to ensure that grant assistance covers at least half of the proposed increase in systemwide fees for other financially needy undergraduates with household incomes between $60,000 and $100,000.
Last fall, all UC campuses launched interactive web-based financial aid estimators that allow families and students to obtain information about UC's costs and strategies to meet those costs. These estimators, which take into account annual income, assets and family size, are available here.
Go here to read more about Yudof's plan.
