Yudof to low-income students: "We've got you covered"

In a small change to UC's financial aid policy that could make a big difference, the UC Regents voted unanimously today (Feb. 5) to cover all UC system fees for students with household incomes of less than $60,000, the median household income in California.

 

The plan will apply to an estimated 48,100 low-income students. Most of these students already receive financial aid, but the new Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan will extend aid to the estimated 1,100 among them who don't.

 

It's the simplicity of the plan, more than the expansion of aid, that gives the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan its appeal, said UC President Mark Yudof.

 

"I'm afraid we lose too many bright, low-income students just because they think they can't afford it," Yudof said. Although financial is available, he said, many of them either don't know that or worry they won't qualify for it.

 

A 2005 survey showed that families tend to overestimate the cost of a UC education, Yudof added. "Now we're saying, if you're admitted ... if you make under $60,000 a year ... we've got you covered."

 

The proposal comes at the same time as a new fundraising effort by UCLA to keep the university accessible and to attract top students. The Bruin Scholars Initiative aims to raise $300 million for graduate fellowships and $200 million for undergraduate scholarships.

 

The Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan will cover, at a minimum, the $7,200 in annual, systemwide fees now paid by undergraduates. Grants could also cover campus-specific fees and expenses like housing and books. UC already provides grants and scholarships to the tune of an average of $10,300, to 54 percent of undergraduates.

 

Several regents applauded the proposal.

 

"For those of us who have looked at the disparities as it relates to college-going in California, especially among Hispanic students, it's very often not an issue of eligibility that kids don't come to the UCs," said Regent Monica Lozano. "It is clearly oftentimes an issue of affordability, and the concern by kids who are eligible – [they] just don't think they can afford a UC education."

 

While 47,000 students already have their fees fully covered, creating the below-$60,000-income rule will cost UC an extra $3.1 million, said Yudof, who added that making it clear to lower-income students that they can count on receiving financial aid "makes it worth the $3 million."

 

To fund the plan, the proposal recommends using an extra 3 percent of new student fees. "If we didn't raise fees, which strikes me as very unlikely, we will find the money," Yudof said. "We'll just have to find the money ... even if it means more cuts in the Office of the President."

 

Beyond having a household income below $60,000, students would also have to apply for financial aid to verify their need – UC would obviously rule out anyone who also has a "$10 million trust fund," Yudof joked. Students accepted to UC and enrolling at least half-time and for the full academic year would qualify for four years of aid as freshmen and two years as transfers, barring greater-than-expected cuts to Pell Grants or Cal Grants, Yudof said.

 

"If, God forbid, the Pell Grants were cut in half or the Cal Grants were stopped" – which is not anticipated, Yudof emphasized – "... if something terrible were to happen, we have to be honest with our students. We could not pick up the hundreds of millions of dollars."

 

For the current year, UC has already announced that it will provide funding to cover Cal Grants for students whose grant funding is currently unavailable due to delays in state payments.

 

Yudof hopes the new financial aid plan will change "the conversation at the kitchen table" where parents and students evaluate whether they can afford a UC education. To make sure Californians know about UC's promise to cover fees for everyone under the $60,000 mark, "I want to market the heck out of this," Yudof said, suggesting an array of ways to get the message out to low-income students.

 

"We'll go on Facebook," he declared, but then added, "I don't think I'm probably the face for that."

 

Read more about the passage of the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan from the UC Newsroom.