Beatrice Negulescu / Roundup
When students prepared to kiss summer goodbye and head back to the classroom, they did not anticipate the delay in the arrival of their Cal Grant checks.
“I was unable to buy my books on time this semester since I did not receive my Cal Grant check before school started, like I usually have for the past two years,” said 23-year-old Art major, Houtan Sarraf.
Cal Grants are a simple way for college students to get money that they are not required to pay back. Depending on which Cal Grant you are awarded, the money can be used for tuition, living expenses, and even books and pencils.
In order to receive a Cal Grant you must meet the academic, financial and eligibility requirements which can be found at CalGrants.org.
Year-after-year many students depend on their Cal Grant checks to arrive in a timely manner so that they are able to cover the increasing cost of school materials.
This year was no exception.
“I rely on my Cal Grant money to help get school materials, and pay for rent,” said Hamid Nicoo, 24, Speech major.
As California attempted to close a $26 billion budget gap, many assumed that any solution would involve more cuts in education spending.
This idea hit closer to home as speculation arose that school budget cuts were responsible for an understaffing problem at Pierce’s Financial Aid Office. This problem would cause students to receive their Cal Grant checks later than usual.
When asked if this assertion was valid, Financial Aid Office Student Worker Anabel Rodriguez responded “yes, but we just recently hired a couple of students so we should be back on track, but the delay in Cal Grants is due to the high volume of applicants for Financial Aid.”
As of Sept. 22 Pierce has received 13,847 financial aid applications, and nine months remain open for even more applications.
“The current increases on educational costs and reduction of courses at CSU, UC, all Community Colleges, our District has experienced growth in financial aid applications. As a result of this increase across our District, all Pierce College Student Service Offices have experienced similar challenges on services,” Director of Financial Aid, Scholarships and Veterans, Anafe Robinson confirmed in an email.
“Pierce College administration has been supportive of staffing concerns, however, we are all in a limited financial situation due to the state budgets.”
When asked if the tardiness of Cal Grants were due to the an understaffing in the Financial Aid Office, Robinson explained “the State of California released Cal Grant funds to all colleges and universities on Sept 10th. As soon as the Cal Grant funds were received by LACCD, eligible students were disbursed their Cal Grant funds.”
In these uncertain financial times one thing is for sure; according to Rodriguez everyone in the Financial Aid Office is working really hard to make sure the students receive their financial aid.
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