Most University of California students are now aware that Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new budget proposes a substantial
increases in student fees as well as a significant reduction of
financial aid for UC students.
As yet unknown is how, if these proposals are passed, the
University of California will cope.
In the past, increased financial aid has helped UC students
weather fee increases. However, the governor’s current
proposal reduces the proportion of new fee revenue that UC directs
to financial aid from 33 percent to 20 percent.
In addition, the governor’s budget does not increase Cal
Grants to cover the proposed UC fee increase.
These policy proposals are of great concern because they would
have a significant effect on lower-income students’ access to
public higher education.
Every little bit of aid counts for first-year Chicano studies
student Luis Limon, and, likewise, every bit taken away hurts him
immensely.
Limon covers his college expenses with the help of contributions
from his parents, uncles and grandma, who wish to support him as he
strives to become the first college graduate in his family.
“There is only so much my family can do ““ I am
draining my family’s funds as well as my own (by attending
UCLA),” he said.
Limon works 20 hours a week as a student supervisor at
Crossroads Café, and he was formerly a dishwasher at De Neve
dining hall.
Unfortunately, his work study does not pay him enough to meet
the anticipated increase in fees and decrease in aid for the
2004-2005 academic year.
Executive Assistant Director of Financial Aid Nick Valdivia said
that next year, he would expect an increase in the dollar amount of
Stafford loans taken out by undergraduate students, should
Schwarzenegger’s budget pass.
This may be the case for Limon.
He currently receives $5,000 in scholarships, which covers what
he would otherwise pay with loans, but next year, when his
scholarships end, his loans may be even greater than he once
thought.
“I definitely can’t afford to live on campus next
year,” he said. “Instead, I will commute from my home
in East L.A.”
If students take the maximum amount they are offered in Stafford
Lloans and still do not have enough money to cover university
expenses, their families may then be forced to take out parent
loans, Valdivia said.
Among Limon’s other concerns are the enrollment caps and
elimination of funds for outreach programs proposed in the new
state budget. He said he wonders what effect this will have on his
two brothers who are still in grade school.
Since the passage of Proposition 209 banned state-supported
affirmative action in 1996, the UC has greatly escalated funding to
outreach programs for minority and economically disadvantaged high
school students.
However, dismal state funding has recently sliced into the
outreach budget, with a 50 percent cut issued last year, and the
possibility of a 100 percent cut in outreach funding this year.
Limon is also dismayed by what he believes is a lack of adequate
service in financial dealings. He lamented that, too often, there
are ridiculously long lines in the Financial Aid Office.
“Sometimes, I just wish I had someone to sit down and talk
to about financial aid, about other problems,” Limon said.
“I have no previous experience with these issues,” he
added.
But extra assistance does not seem to be on the horizon. In
fact, Limon and others may expect just the opposite.
“Additional cuts to the UC’s operating budgets may
still occur,” Valdivia said. “That may mean that we
have less resources available to students.”