Understanding Financial Aid
Guiding Principles
The awarding of financial assistance is based on the following principles:
- To the extent they are able, parents have the primary responsibility to pay for their dependent children's education
- Students also have a responsibility to contribute to their educational costs
- Families should be evaluated in their present financial condition. Financial aid measures a family's ability, not willingness to pay for higher education.
- A family's ability to pay for educational costs must be evaluated in an equitable and consistent manner, recognizing that special circumstances can and do affect its ability to pay
- The level of gift aid is a reflection of students' academic accomplishments and their demonstrated NEED
- Federal and State regulations require that institutions consider all forms of assistance in the process of meeting a student's NEED
The Equation
The "needs analysis" process approved by the Dept of Education to determine eligibility...
Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) = NEED
...is the index generated from the information submitted on the FAFSA each year.
The Package
The financial aid package consists of any or all of the following:
- Federal grants - Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- State grants - Cal Grant
- Institutional grants and scholarships - CLU aid includes awards such as: Presidential Scholarship, Merit Scholarship, CLU Scholarship, CLU Grant, and Visual and Performing Arts Scholarships
- Self Help Aid - Federal Work- Study, State Work- Study, Subsidized Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS), alternative student loans
*** Please note, if the financial aid package includes institutional gift aid, all or part of that award may be replaced with a named scholarship funded by our generous donors.