Hi folks! We’re right in the midst of FAFSA season and students are beginning to receive their Student Aid Reports. I just wanted to let everyone know a little bit more about the SAR and what to look for once you get it.
When you receive your Student Aid Report, the first thing you should do is look for any errors that may have been made. If you do find an error, you do have the opportunity to correct it by web, phone, or mail, though web is usually the fastest. It is important to note, however, that you can only correct any information that was incorrect as of the day you filed your FAFSA, though if an issue arises after filing, you still may be able to change your information. To do this, contact your school’s financial aid office.
If you haven’t received your Student Aid Report yet, don’t worry. It usually takes about four weeks for your FAFSA to be processed and for you to receive your SAR. If it has been longer than four weeks since you filed, you can call 1-800-4FED-AID to check on the status of your application. Visit FafsaOnline.com for more information on federal student aid and your Student Aid Report.
You can also check out the financial aid calendar to see what steps to take next.
New York Times
The University of California will use a combination of furloughs, deferred hiring and cuts in academic programs to make up for an $813 million reduction in state financing, its president, Mark G. Yudof, said Friday.
Mr. Yudof said the actions amounted to a major retrenchment for the university, which has long been regarded as the nation’s leading public university.
“The impact of this cut is devastating,” Mr. Yudof said at a press briefing. “There is no way that we are going to be able to look every student in the eye and say, ‘Tomorrow, the University of California will be just the way it was yesterday.’ ”
Most of the university’s campuses will defer at least half of their planned faculty hirings, Mr. Yudof said, and the Berkeley campus expects to reduce faculty recruitment from the usual 100 positions a year to 10.
Chancellors from the individual campuses will present their cost-cutting plans next week to the state Board of Regents, which must vote on the entire budget.
Many of the planned cuts, and those already put into effect, impinge upon the university’s academic offerings.
The Irvine campus has halted admissions to its education doctorate program for working professionals, and its Latin American studies program is on hiatus. Class size is expected to increase 10 percent to 20 percent next year, while faculty and staff is expected to decline by at least 10 percent over the next five years.
At the Davis campus, the Medical Center has eliminated its liver transplant program, and in the division of humanities, arts and cultural studies, 44 courses and sections are expected to be cut.
The University of California, Los Angeles, will close its Labor Center, and deans and faculty members have been told to reduce courses, majors and faculty size by 10 percent to 20 percent over the next year. The freshman enrollment target on the campus for the 2009 fiscal year may drop by as many as 500 students.
At the Santa Cruz campus, most general-education courses with fewer than 100 students enrolled have been canceled, along with the bachelor of arts degree in earth sciences and the minor in music. Creation of an environmental sciences major has been deferred.
The San Diego campus has eliminated senior seminars, a small-group experience for students, and curtailed freshman seminars.
The University of California has faced financial challenges for years, leading to bigger classes, fewer course offerings and deferred maintenance — and caused some faculty members to defect to competing universities.
Tuition has risen to more than $8,700 for in-state students this fall, more than doubling from the $3,859 nine years ago.
Systemwide, 724 staff members have been laid off, and there may be more, Mr. Yudof said, especially if unionized employees reject the furloughs.
The furloughs, to be implemented Sept. 1, will be systemwide, with some exceptions, including those whose jobs are fully financed by research grants.
“It’s important not to take money from enterprises that are really entrepreneurial,” Mr. Yudof said, “and it wouldn’t help us with our deficit. Maybe this will encourage people to be entrepreneurial and go out and get those grants.”
In response to urging from university employees, the furloughs are structured so that people who earn more take bigger pay cuts. Those earning less than $40,000 will have 11 furlough days, equivalent to a 4 percent pay cut, while those earning more than $240,000 will have 26 furlough days, which is about a 10 percent pay cut. Mr. Yudof said he expected that faculty members would not take furloughs on their teaching days.
The university may also close for some additional days, as other California offices have done.
Over all, Mr. Yudof said, furloughs and pay cuts will offset about a quarter of the $813 million in budget cuts, and previously announced increases in student fees will offset another quarter. About 40 percent will come from cuts decided on by chancellors at the individual campuses, and the remaining 10 percent from systemwide changes, including refinancing of debt, and further cuts in the president’s office, where the budget has already been cut by a third.
The university’s struggle is the latest and starkest example of the statewide effects of legislators’ inability to come to an agreement with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over how to deal with a $24 billion budget shortfall. The state’s controller has been forced to send i.o.u.’s to many of the state’s vendors and taxpayers. Most large banks said they would refuse to accept the warrants after Friday, leaving people and businesses to decide whether they will hold onto the warrants until they mature in October or try to find some other method of cashing them.
On Friday, much of state government shut down for the third monthly furlough day ordered by the governor to save money.
Financing for the University of California system rose only 2 percent from 2001 to 2008, a period when enrollment grew 30 percent, and financing for state prisons, K-12 public schools and health and human services each grew by more than 40 percent according to a report from the outgoing chairman of the Board of Regents, Richard C. Blum.
At the briefing, the current chairman, Russell Gould, announced creation of a new University of California Commission on the Future, which he and Mr. Yudof will head. The commission will consider how to maintain access, quality and affordability in a tough economic climate, what delivery models for higher education make the most sense, how big the university should be, and how to maximize traditional and alternative revenue streams.
“We’re going to have to change the way we do business,” Mr. Yudof said.
In an interview after the briefing, he said he would like the new commission to look into the possibility of an online University of California and alternatives to the current system of majors.
by: Tamar Lewin
President Obama delivered remarks on his proposals for education this morning at the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual Legislative Conference. As reported by the Washington Post, President Obama offered some additional information on the education budget for the 2010 fiscal year. He touched on the five “pillars” of reform for the nation’s education system and on the importance of increasing high school retention rates and attaining a college degree. President Obama underscored the need to invest in education as “The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens.”
Regarding higher education proposals, President Obama stated. “Now, the fifth part of America's education strategy is providing every American with a quality higher education whether it's college or technical training. Never has a college degree been more important. Never has it been more expensive. And at a time when so many of our families are bearing enormous economic burdens, the rising cost of tuition threatens to shatter dreams. And that's why we will simplify federal college assistance forms so it doesn't take a Ph.D to apply for financial aid.”
President Obama further discussed the Pell Grant increases contained in his budget proposal to Congress that call for an annual increase to adjust for inflation and a plan to provide a $2,500-a-year tuition tax credit for students from working families. “To help pay for all of this, we're putting students ahead of lenders by eliminating wasteful student loan subsidies that cost taxpayers billions each year,” he stated.
In advance of the speech, the Administration issued a fact sheet on the President’s education policy proposals entitled, “Expanding the Promise of Education in America.” It includes talking points on the ideas for early education, K-12, higher education and proposals for driving innovation and expanding excellence. On higher education, the fact sheet touches on increasing college access, expanding federal aid and simplifying the financial aid process. It also mentions providing additional funding for Pell Grants and providing an annual increase to account for inflation and the proposal to end student loan subsidies to private student loan companies.
A copy of the fact sheet is available in the expanded version of today’s Daily Briefing. Additional articles from The Washington Post and USA Today are included in the expanded version of today’s Daily Briefing. A transcript of his speech is also attached, along with a press release from Education and Labor Ranking Member Howard “Buck” McKeon.
