Cal Grants

1
Cal Grants
2
Agenda

• Student Eligibility
• Cal Grant A
• Cal Grant B
• High School Entitlement Awards
• Student Notifications
• WebGrants
• Calculate GPA
• Best Practices
• WebGrants for Students

3
Student Eligibility

• California resident
• U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
• Meet Selective Service requirements
• Attend an eligible California School
• Not owe state or federal grant repayment
• Not in default on a student loan

• Not have earned a BA/BS degree
• Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress
• Not incarcerated
• Be enrolled at least half-time
• Must have a Social Security number
• March 2 and September 2 due dates

4
What is an entitlement award?

• Recent high school graduates or equivalent (GED,
  CHSPE)
• 2010/11 award year graduated on or after 7/1/09
• High school GPA required
• Passes minimum GPA, Common, Program and financial
  edits
• Unlimited number of awards

5
Cal Grant A

• Must meet all of the following requirements
• Low- to middle-income students who
• Meet the income and asset ceilings
• Have financial need
• GPA minimum (3.0 H.S.)
• AA and BA programs only

6
Cal Grant A (cont.)

• Maximum annual award amounts
• Can be used for tuition and fees only
• Community Colleges not paid, but held in
  reserve
• CSU - 4,026 per year
• UC - 7,788 per year
• Independent - 9,708 per year

7
Cal Grant B

• Must meet all of the following requirements
• Very low income students who
• Meet the income and asset ceilings
• Must have at least 700 in financial need
• AA, BA/BS and Certificate programs
• Requires minimum 2.0 GPA
• Can be used for any school expenses including
  tuition and fees

8
Cal Grant A B Comparison

• Cal Grant A

• Cal Grant B

• CA Grant eligibility requirements
• 3.0 GPA
• CSU 4,026
• UC 7,788
• Private 9,708

• CA Grant eligibility requirements
• 2.0 GPA
• Ed Level 1 1,551 access
• Ed level 2 gt tuition and fee award same as CGA
  1551 access except at a CC

9
Cal Grant B Award Amounts by EL
10
Cal Grant C

• Must meet all of the following requirements
• Low- to middle-income students
• Can be used for tuition, fees, books and supplies
• Occupational or technical programs resulting in a
  certificate
• Students in an AA program with no intention of
  transferring
• GPA not a requirement, but will be considered if
  submitted

11
Cal Grant C program length is 2 years
12
How to calculate GPAs for High School seniors

• Base GPA only on courses taken during sophomore
  and junior years (including any Summer courses
  taken for sophomore and junior years). DO NOT
  include grades from P.E., ROTC or remedial
  courses (use your schools own definition of
  remedial). Failing grades not retaken prior to
  the students senior year must be included.
  Calculate the GPAs based on a maximum 4.00 scale
  (anything over a 4.00 will reject).
• For high school graduates include their senior
  year grades as well
• To calculate a college GPA, go to
  http//www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id1177 and look
  for Cal Grant GPA Calculation Instructions

13
GPA Submission

• To obtain access to WebGrants
• Complete forms
• System Administrators Access form
• Information Security and Confidentiality
  Agreement
• Faxes are not accepted
• Immediate access

14
Ways to Submit GPAs

• WebGrants
• Upload by batch file (.txt)
• Submit one-by-one (Add GPAs screen)
• GPA Verification form
• Complete demographic information and then print
  out
• Download blank form
• Certificate of Mailing

15
GPA Submission

• GPAs can be uploaded by batches or individual
  records
• WebGrants has built-in edits to catch errors
• Confirmation of receipt of records
• Access to GPA summary and school of origin
  reports
• More secure than U.S. Postal mail

16
GPA Top Tips

• DONT WAIT! (GPAs can be uploaded right now)
• Establish a WebGrants account
• Know how to access the WebGrants User Guides on
  the GPA upload process
• Use the Add GPA screen for a small batch of GPA
  records (example less than 100)
• Upload a GPA data file in .txt format if you have
  a lot of GPA records (more than 100)
• Use WebGrants reports to see the status of your
  submitted GPA records

17
Student Notification

• If student is eligible
• California Aid Report (CAR)
• Mailed when student eligibility is determined
• Sent as early as January
• WebGrants will show status as well
• If student is not eligible
• Disqualification letter and Disqualification Fact
  Sheet is sent (to entitlement students only)

18
(No Transcript)
19
Student Notifications
20
High School Graduation Certification

• Upcoming graduating high school seniors who are
  awarded a Cal Grant must provide documentation or
  confirmation of their high school graduation to
  CSAC
• HS may use WebGrants to submit this information
  on behalf of their students
• Students may submit the High School Graduation
  Certification Form (G-8) online using WebGrants
  or by paper, which can be located at csac.ca.gov

21
WebGrants for Students

• Students can
• Check if their application data has been received
  by CSAC
• Check their award status and view their payment
  history
• Check the address on file and update it online
• Simulate a school change and submit the change
  online
• Process a leave of absence request online
• Complete online forms that automatically update
  student accounts
• Links to other financial aid information and Web
  sites

webgrants4students.org
22
CSAC Contact Information

• CSAC General School Support
• Hours
• 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Contact information
• [phone]
• schoolsupport_at_csac.ca.gov

23
WebGrants Contact

• CSAC Technology Help Desk
• [phone]
• csachelpdesk_at_csac.ca.gov
• WebGrants access request forms from the CSAC Web
  site www.csac.ca.gov
• WebGrants https//webgrants.csac.ca.gov

24
CSAC Information and Updates

• Executive Director updates
• CSAC Web site includes
• Calendar of Events
• Students and Parents
• Schools
• Newsroom
• Outreach
• Publications
• About CSAC

www.csac.ca.gov/default.asp
25
CSAC List Services Sign up to receive

• Grant Operational Memos (GOMs), Grant Policy
  Bulletins (GPBs),Grant Special Alerts (GSAs),
  Fast Blasts and CSAC list serve e-mails
• www.csac.ca.gov ?Links?CSAC List Services

counselor_at_csac.ca.gov
students
1SEC2001
X
X