These funds are need based and do not have to be repaid. Summer grants are offered to undergraduate students only.

Federal Pell Grant: is awarded to students who file a FAFSA and do not exceed the Expected Family contribution range established by the US Department of Education. Award amounts will vary depending on a students Expected Family Contribution and unit enrollment.

University Grant: is awarded to students who file an on-time FAFSA or DREAM application. Students enrolled in less than 8 units are ineligible for University Grant funds in the Summer.

Cal Grants: are offered to FAFSA and DREAM applicants who graduate early and will not need their Cal Grant during the academic year. Award amounts will vary depending on the amount of summer fees. Cal Grants will be awarded mid-summer and will reduce your University Grant eligibility

Federal Work-Study: offered to on-time FAFSA eligible students who demonstrate financial need and request work-study on their summer application. The maximum award amount is $1800 (subject to change based on availability of summer funding). Students can work 20 hours per week.

FEDERAL LOANS

The Direct Loan Program consists of low-interest Subsidized (need-based) and Unsubsidized (non-need based) loans funded by the US Department of Education. Loans are available to FAFSA eligible students. Additional information about the Direct Loan Program is available under the Guides & Publications section on the Financial Aid & Scholarships Website.

Loan repayment will begin six months after graduation or dropping below half-time enrollment. Accrual of interest will begin immediately after graduation or dropping below half-time enrollment.

Unsubsidized Direct Loans are available to all students regardless of income. Interest accrues from the date of disbursement but the extra costs of accrual can be avoided by making interest payments while in school.

Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loan eligibility for the summer is subject to the maximum annual loan limits. Federal loans disbursed in the summer will reduce your academic year eligibility.

Direct PLUS Loans are offered to parents of undergraduate students via the student’s Financial Aid Notification. A separate application with the US Department of Education is required in order to determine final eligibility. PLUS loans are available only to borrowers who do not have adverse credit histories. Final eligibility is determined by the US Department of Education. Interest begins to accrue from the date of disbursement. Repayment begins 60 days after the loan is fully disbursed but can be deferred until graduation.

To complete the summer PLUS Loan Application, visit the US Department of Education – Parent Plus Loan page and indicate a loan period of .

Private Loans: These loans will be offered to students who receive the maximum award amounts under the federal loan program for the summer and the academic year and still require additional funding. Private loans are funded by banks and lending institutions and often require a co-signer. Students and/or co-signers will have to pass a credit check, performed by the https://paydayloanadvance.net/payday-loans-mt/ lender, before their private loans are approved. The interest rate and repayment terms will vary since these loans are not federally guaranteed. If you are awarded a private loan, see the Private Loan Guide available under the school year section of our Forms and Publications page.

Summer Disbursements

Financial Aid and Scholarships will verify your enrollment status before disbursing funds to your account. You must be enrolled in at least 6 units before we can release your aid to your BruinBill account. Disbursements start 10 days before the first day of summer sessions. When aid is disbursed to BruinBill, it will pay your Summer tuition and fees. A refund will be generated for any balance remaining and released to you to be used for your educational and living expenses.

Significantly fewer Black students graduate without debt.

There’s an alarming relationship between degree attainment and larger amounts of debt for Black students. A study by The American Council on Education (ACE) found that about 30 percent of all 2015–16 bachelor’s degree recipients graduated without debt, but only 14 press the link right now percent of African-American graduates could say the same. The average debt of Black graduates is around $34,000, which is higher than any other racial or ethnic group 1 .

Additionally, only 19 percent of African-American master’s degree recipients completed their degrees without borrowing, with 16 percent borrowing $75,000 or morepare that statistic to the 43 percent of white master’s degree recipients who avoided borrowing altogether, with only 7 percent borrowing $75,000 or more 2 . And after graduation, the Black-white disparity in loan debt triples 3 , according to research by Judith Scott Clayton and Jing Li.

Disproportionate enrollment in for-profit institutions

Researchers point out that student debt inequality may be due to Black students disproportionately enrolling in for-profit institutions 9 . For-profit institutions are often the focus when discussing the issue of Black student debt due to their possible predatory actions. As Victoria Jackson from The Education Trust noted in The Washington Post 10 ,

Some argue that Black students enrolling in for-profit institutions at a higher rate does not justify blaming for-profit institutions for the Black-white student debt gap. When discussing educational options for Black borrowers, Jason Delisle of American Enterprise Institute argues 11 , “Why imply that black students would be better off not going to graduate school at all rather than a for-profit school if a lack of good data means we can’t determine which is the better choice?”

The intersection of race, income, and post-college decisions

Black families have less wealth than white families due to systemic inequalities. Student loans are one of the few attainable options for Black students and their families to finance a college education. A case study by Dominique Baker found the relationship between undergraduate debt and post-college decision-making is partially explained by the themes of “timing and structure of information, family as a source of knowledge, comfort with the amount borrowed, and the realities of postbaccalaureate erican Progress highlighted that diversity in the teacher workforce is also significantly affected by high amounts of student debt for Black teachers, as their salaries are not aligned with their debt amounts 12 .

Overall, there are more vigorous policy conversations regarding student debt and race happening every day. Solutions such as targeted financial literacy programs or stricter regulations on college costs can offer a way to address the Black student debt issue 13 . While the issues are far from being solved, policymakers and researchers should continue to frame discussions about student debt in the context of group differences in order to make more targeted and nuanced policy solutions.

About the Author

Alyse Gray Parker, Graduate Fellow, Academic Year 2019-2020Ms. Gray Parker is currently a third-year Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at San Antonio in Educational Leadership and Policy, with an emphasis in higher education. Her current research interests include higher education policy, access, equity, and affordability issues, and understanding how special-mission institutions such as minority-serving institutions and land-grant universities have a role in the success of underrepresented student populations. Previously, Ms. Gray Parker interned at the Lumina Foundation as a policy intern through the Archer Fellowship program and as an accessibility specialist at Trinity University (San Antonio, TX).

She earned her bachelors of arts degree in psychology and master’s degree in school psychology from The Ohio State University.