Banking on financial aid

LACCD colleges give record amounts of aid

Eduardo Razo / Roundup

The recent economic downturn has forced an increasingly large number of college students to apply for financial aid to pay for tuition, school-books, and other expenses.

During the last five years the amount of applications has nearly doubled from 11,408 during the 2007/2008 school year, to 22,510 for the 2010/2011 school year, according to report released in October by Financial Aid Director Anafe Robinson.

The total dollars administrated has also doubled; from $14,019,988 to $38,416,352, according to Robinson.

“One of the reasons that student applications have gone up is the economy is pretty bad,” said Robinson. “So they look to financial aid for assistance.”

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary method students use to acquire financial aid funds from the government.

In order to receive district priority when filling out the (FAFSA) application students must submit it by May 1. However, some students miss their deadline and still expect their money during the first week of school.

“It ain’t happening,” said Robinson.

As a result of the high demand for financial aid this semester, Robinson and her staff have closed the Financial Aid Office during Fridays so they can work on the large number of student files.

“We had a lot of applications and what students don’t understand is that the review of the files is manual,” said Robinson.

Pierce is not the only college in the district dealing with a large number of financial aid applications.

The number of financial applications at Los Angeles Mission College has also doubled; going from 5,145 in 20072008 to 10,728 for 2010-2011, according to Financial Aid Director Dennis Schroeder.

With the increase of applications comes the increase of total dollars administrated, which has more than doubled over the last five years; going from $7,829,320 in 2007-2008 to $18,167,250 for 2010-2011.

“I Applied for Financial Aid in June 2011 and [I’m] getting $300 this semester for 5 units,” said Maria Sanchez, 20, accounting major and Pierce student. “The process for my situation was good because I didn’t have to spend my money that I don’t have on my books”

Similarly, East Los Angeles College has also seen a growth in student applications, from 13,926 for the 2007/2008 school year to 29,633 for the 2010/2011 school year.

Students at Pierce are also eligible to receive the Cal Grant and Pell Grant, which have also increased over the last five years.

Cal Grants are the largest source of California state aid and they provide aid to undergraduates, vocational students, and those in teacher certification programs in California. The number of these applications at Pierce has increased from 833 to 980 between 2007 and 2011. The money available for the Cal Grants has also increased from $930,917 to $1,238,274.

Pell Grants, which provide grants to low-income undergraduate and certain post baccalaureate students, have also increased from 3,460 to 7,343 during that time while the funding has risen from $7,663,848 to $23,849,274, according to Robinson.

East Los Angeles College Financial Aid Manager Linda Fong and her staff are also facing problems with processing applications, for they too, have now closed their doors during Fridays as well, to finish student’s applications.

“It’s not a win-win situation when student don’t turn in the application on time,” said Fong.

Ericka Garcia, 19, psychology major, and a student at East Los Angeles College, was one of the many students to receive their money during the second week of the fall semester.

“I rely heavily on my financial aid money since I don’t have a job at the moment,” said Garcia.

However, for every student who does receive their money early, there are other students who do not receive it on time, and that is where Nereyda Salazar, who attends Los Angeles Valley College, comes in.

“It was a long wait before I finally got my money this month,” said Salazar “I complained, but they just told me to wait and I was getting frustrated because I wasn’t working and needed to pay for books.”

Both East Los Angeles College and Pierce College have dates on their perspective websites so students can meet the deadlines for financial aid applications and receive their money on time.

“I recommend students submit their FAFSA from Jan. 1 to Mar. 2 each year along with required documents by the May 1 deadline,” said Robinson. “This means that they will receive their financial aid during the first week of Fall semester.”