As noted earlier in this chapter, the University has remained accessible to undergraduate students from all income groups, particularly low-income students, despite recent tuition and fee increases and increases in non-fee costs. In 2011-12, 42% of UC students were low-income Pell Grant recipients, more than at any other comparably selective research institution. Financial aid also contributes greatly to the University’s undergraduate diversity. African- American, Chicano/Latino, and Asian American students
Display XVI-3: Undergraduate Student Financial Aid At-A-Glance, 2011-12 Academic Year
Total Aid (Includes Summer) $2.7 billion
Aid Recipients 71%
Gift Aid
Total gift aid $1.9 billion
Gift aid recipients 65%
Average gift aid award $15,784
Gift aid awards based on need Over 92%
Student Loans
Students who took out loans 46%
Average student loan $6,519
Students graduating with debt 52%
Average debt at graduation among
borrowers $19,751
Student Employment
Students who worked 47%
Students who worked more than
20 hours per week 8%
are disproportionately low-income; 49%, 51%, and 37%, respectively, of these students are either financially independent (who are generally low-income) or have parent incomes less than $40,000. Collectively, students in these ethnic categories received 74% of all undergraduate gift assistance in 2011-12.
For many years, the percentage of students from middle- income families enrolled at the University has remained relatively stable, staying around 43% between 2000-01 and 2006-07, despite tuition and fee increases in most of those years. Since then, the percentage has declined slightly, to 36% in 2011-12, which may reflect a decline in middle- income families statewide attributable to the recent economic recession. The University is closely monitoring this trend, together with income trends among California families generally, as it refines its undergraduate financial aid programs for the 2014-15 academic year.
A general measure of the University’s affordability is its average net cost of attendance, which represents the actual cost of attending UC for undergraduates after taking into account scholarship and grant assistance. In 2012-13 (the most recent year for which information is available), the University’s average total cost of attendance (before financial aid) was higher than the total cost of attendance at three of UC’s four public comparison institutions, as
Student Financial Aid
Display XVI-4: 2011-12 Undergraduate Pell Grant Recipients
UC remains accessible for students from low-income families. UC has a very high proportion of federal Pell Grant recipients – 42% during 2011-12, more than at any comparable public or private institution.
Display XVI-5: 2012-13 Net Cost of Attendance for Undergraduate Aid Recipients
Undergraduate need-based aid recipients at UC received an average of $16,600 in gift aid, resulting in a net cost of $12,500. UC’s net cost in 2012-13 was lower than the net cost at three of its four public comparison institutions.
shown in Display XVI-5. After adjusting for gift aid, however, UC’s net cost of attendance for resident need- based aid recipients was lower than the estimated net cost at three of the University’s four public comparison
institutions.
The Education Financing Model
Consistent with the financial aid policy adopted by the Regents in January 1994, the University uses an integrated framework – the “Education Financing Model” (EFM) – to assess UC’s role in funding its financial support programs, to allocate financial aid across campuses, and to guide the awarding of aid to individual students. The framework is based on four principles:
1. The University must acknowledge the total cost of attendance: resident student fees, living and personal expenses, and costs related to books and supplies, transportation, and health care;
2. Financing a UC education requires a partnership among students, their parents, federal and state governments, and the University;
3. To maintain equity among undergraduate students, all students, no matter which campus they attend or their income level, are expected to make a similar contribution from student loans and employment to help finance their educations; and
4. Flexibility is needed for students in deciding how to meet their expected contributions and for campuses in implementing the EFM to serve their particular student bodies.
These principles are reflected in a relatively simple framework for determining the components of a student’s financial aid package, as illustrated on the next page.
Parent Contribution. Parents are expected to help cover the costs of attending the University if their children are considered financially dependent. The amount of the parental contribution is determined by the same formula used to determine need for federal and State aid programs, which takes into account parental income and assets (other than home equity), the size of the family, the number of family members in college, and non-discretionary expenses. Particularly low-income parents have an expected contribution of zero.
Student Contribution. Undergraduates are expected to make a contribution to their educational expenses from earnings and borrowing. The expected contribution should be manageable so students are able to make steady progress toward completion of the baccalaureate degree and to meet loan repayment obligations after graduation. The EFM includes ranges for loan and work expectations based on the University’s estimates of the minimum and maximum manageable loan/work levels, adjusted annually for inflation and periodically for market changes in student wages and expected post-graduation earnings.
The University’s goal is to provide sufficient systemwide funding to ensure that students’ loan/work expectations fall within the range established by the EFM.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Virginia Michigan Stanford USC UC
California Research Universities Selected Public Flagship Institutions $0 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000
UC Buffalo Illinois Michigan Virginia
Total Cost $29,100 $24,000 $28,600 $29,600 $27,700
Gift Aid $16,600 $6,500 $9,500 $13,100 $15,800