Got cash for college?

If not, financial aid could be ticket to paying bill for higher education

By MICHELLE HATFIELD
mhatfield@modbee.com

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If she could do it all over, Crystal Delgado would apply for scholarships.

The criminal justice freshman at California State University, Stanislaus, receives financial aid to help pay for college. Instead of taking the time to seek scholarships, which don't have to be repaid, Delgado had to take out a loan, money that must be returned after graduation.

Delgado, 18, works in the financial aid office as part of the work-study grant program, and is discovering the opportunities she missed. What advice would she give students?

"I would do all the paperwork as soon as possible," the San Bernardino native said. "Do the scholarships. I had to get loans. There's a lot of (financial aid) out there."

Many skip scholarships because it can take lots of time to put together the applications for a small amount of money. And some don't apply because they don't think they'll be eligible, but millions of dollars goes unclaimed every year.

With an important federal financial aid application deadline less than two months away, officials are urging all college-bound students to apply.

"We advise students not to make any assumptions ahead of time. People are often pleasantly surprised," said Pat Spreer, assistant director of financial aid at the University of the Pacific.

To help pay the estimated $15,000 to attend Stanislaus State each year, Delgado is using grants and loans that cover about 60 percent of her costs, including tuition, textbooks and living expenses.

Nationally, 63 percent of all undergraduates receive some type of aid, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study from 2003-04, the most recent data available. Those who received aid were awarded an average of $7,300.

At local colleges, anywhere from 55 percent to 73 percent of students receive aid. Depending on living expenses, the annual cost ranges from $10,000 at Modesto Junior College to $36,000 at UOP, according to their Web sites.

Students at community colleges and universities can get aid in a variety of ways: scholarships and grants are gifts and do not have to be repaid; loans must be paid back with interest after graduation; and work-study programs, where students work on campus in exchange for financial aid.

Funding comes from state and federal governments, private organizations as well as the individual colleges. For instance, UOP gave out $57 million in financial aid in 2006 -- $25 million of which came from the university.

The largest government program in the state is the Cal Grant. In 2004-05, more than $750 million in Cal Grants were distributed, according to the California Student Aid Commission.

The starting point for financial aid is the FAFSA -Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Referred to as the golden key, FAFSA is the fundamental qualifying form used for all federal and certain lenders' programs, as well as for many state, regional and private aid programs.

More than $74 billion in new aid to 10 million college students and their families was awarded during the 2004-05 school year, according to the FAFSA Web site.

FAFSA is due March 2 for the 2007-08 academic year, and financial aid counselors urge students to turn in their applications as soon as possible because many programs award money on a first-come, first-served basis. The application process opened Jan. 1.

"Families don't need to wait for the tax returns. They can use the best estimate from the prior year," said Heather Nardello, assistant director of financial aid at the University of California at Merced. "We or the government will ask for exact numbers later."