But while federal Pell Grants and state Cal Grants are important sources of financial assistance, they are not the largest. The university student aid program, funded by tuition and fees, provided $85 million to make UC Berkeley accessible for the neediest students. 

This means that the lowest-income students pay less to attend in 2013 than they would have in 1992 (when fewer Cal students qualified for Pell Grants and when the USAP was much smaller). Tuition and fees also support UC Berkeley’s Middle Class Access Plan, which caps parental contributions for a Berkeley education at 15 percent of annual income in the $80,000 to $140,000 range. Eligible students will cap the contribution your parents make toward your annual cost of attendance at UC Berkeley at 15 percent of their total income. The minimum MCAP award for 2013–2014 is $1,000.

UCLA established the Chancellor’s Blue and Gold Scholarship Program in 1998 to recognize high-achieving Los Angeles County high schools, which have traditionally sent few students to UCLA. Each scholar receives an annual award ranging up to $5,000. Beginning with the Fall Quarter 2000, the UCLA Chancellor’s Blue and Gold Scholarship Program was expanded to include transfer students attending community colleges in the greater Los Angeles area. The program now supports approximately 350 students, and expenditures exceed $1 million.

At UC Davis, community service continues to be an integral part of the Chancellor’s Blue and Gold Program. Each scholar is asked to complete 20 hours of service each year. To help middle-class California students and families cover costs, UC Davis announced a new financial aid program. The Aggie Grant Plan will award about $3,000 annually to eligible students whose annual family incomes are between $80,000 and $120,000. 

“This new program reflects our commitment to sustaining access to a UC Davis education for students across the socioeconomic spectrum,” said Adela de la Torre, interim vice chancellor for student affairs. The AGP builds on the University of California’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, which expands access for lower-income students. The Blue and Gold plan covers base tuition and fees for students with annual family incomes of up to $80,000. 

The AGP will be funded through federal, state and university funds, as well as private grants and scholarships. In 2011–2012, 53 percent of students received enough financial aid to fully cover their base tuition and fees, and 44 percent of those who earned bachelor’s degrees did so without taking out loans. Collectively, UC Davis students received more than $250 million in scholarships and grants during the last academic year. 

I always lie to high school students when I help them with college admissions; that is … I always tell them to lie to “my first-choice college(s).”

— Richard Thompson
Alumnus ’83