Over half of all UCLA students receive financial assistance from the school, but for those looking for additional sources of income, the right balance between work and financial aid can be difficult to find.
Because financial aid packages are partly determined by a student’s income, higher-paying jobs can sometimes mean a student will be offered less money from the school, said Ronald Johnson, UCLA’s director of financial aid.
But he stressed that the financial aid office makes an effort to cover any necessary expenses students cannot afford themselves, regardless of how much their jobs pay.
UCLA financial-aid packages consist of loans and grants, as well as a “self-help requirement”, which often comes in the form of a work-study program, Johnson said.
Most work-study jobs are on-campus positions, such as assistants in departments. And since the government partially subsidizes work-study wages, these students are attractive employees, Johnson added.
But students in work-study programs can only work a limited number of hours ““ usually around 15 per week ““ and can often find higher-paying employment through other avenues, such as off-campus jobs.
Bernice Shaw, Cultural Affairs commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said she believes many students receiving financial-aid packages seek additional income.
“I would say the majority of my friends have supplemental sources of income,” she said.
Many students opt to turn down part of their financial-aid package and instead get an off-campus job, Johnson said.
But coordinating an off-campus job with financial-aid packages can be logistically challenging. For students with lucrative jobs, the additional income could cause the financial aid office to offer them less money in grants the next year, Johnson said.
Working off campus can have other implications on a student’s life.
“(With work-study) we place a cap on hours so they cannot overburden themselves. Students can also get part-time jobs, which we obviously have less control over. It can be very destructive to their academia,” he said.
Shaw agreed that working off campus is not always the best option from an academic standpoint, but said recent university fee increases have left some students with no alternative.
In the past five years, fees have increased 80 percent, and likely will increase more.
And while financial aid has also increased in recent years, it has not been enough to offset fee increases, she said.
“It is definitely not on par with how much our fees have increased. … That’s very problematic,” she said.
Since 2002, the average financial-aid package awarded to students has increased several thousand dollars, but the combination of loans, grants and work-study has changed.
Monicke Freeman, a senior analyst with the Financial Aid Office, said work-study assistance has remained roughly steady because government funding for the program has not increased.
Over the same period, average grant awards have increased slightly.
Freeman said aid packages are partially determined by the cost of living ““ since 2002, the estimated cost of living on campus as increased from about $17,000 to just over $23,000 per year.
But Shaw said she does not believe methods for determining financial-aid packages adequately take into account certain types of personal circumstances.
For instance, students who are claimed as dependents on their parents’ tax returns but are not in fact receiving financial support from them may not receive as much assistance as they really need, she said.
Undergraduate students cannot claim independence on their financial-aid applications unless they fit certain criteria, such as being married or being able to claim a dependent of their own, Johnson said.
He said the financial aid office does try to accommodate students whose aid package does not cover their essential costs.
“If students have needs beyond financial aid we always encourage them to come in and document those,” he said.
“If they’re legitimate educational expenses … we’ll see if we can adjust their budget accordingly.”
He added that the office also offers financial counseling to students whose packages are not adjusted.
“We always encourage students to apply for scholarships,” he said.
“(Also) to minimize those costs and those expenses that are not fixed. We always try to counsel students to be as (judicious) as possible (with money).”