Current Students
The following information is being provided by the Financial Aid and Scholarships’ Office (FASO), as informed by campus partners, the UC system, and state and federal guidance. The information is fluid, and will be updated or changed as needed. It is intended to provide answers to some of the most common financial aid questions you may have as a result of the transition to remote instruction in spring quarter. For information on broader COVID-19 campus issues, please refer to UC Santa Cruz Information on COVID-19.
Students/families who have experienced a significant change to their financial circumstances as result of COVID 19 may consider appealing their EFC. For information on the appeals process for the current year click here. For 2020-21 appeals, click here.
Withdrawing or Taking a Leave of Absence for Spring
If you take a leave of absence, your aid will be cancelled and you will need to return any refund you may receive for the spring term.
If you withdraw (officially or unofficially) starting the first day of instruction of spring term, the Financial Aid and Scholarships’ Office is required to perform a calculation to determine if financial aid you received for the term must be returned based on the number of days of the quarter you attended. You can find additional information on our website under "Withdrawal Policy." Note this cancellation or reduction of aid stands apart from a refund on tuition or housing you may receive according to the policies of the Office of the Registrar and Campus Housing.
Please also work with your academic advisors and other offices if you are planning to withdraw or take a leave of absence.
What if I plan to remain enrolled but want to drop a class?
Your aid may be adjusted by reduced enrollment. See our part time and minimum enrollment policies here.
How will my Satisfactory Academic Progress be impacted?
Circumstances related to COVID-19 are considered valid extenuating circumstances beyond a student’s control, including but not limited to, illness of a student, family member, or professor, and/or general disruption caused by the current outbreak. Students with multiple appeals in one academic year and/or large Pace/GPA deficits are typically required to meet with the financial aid director; however, under current circumstances, students will instead be required to have an online meeting with the SAP adviser to discuss academic and financial planning. The submission of an appeal does not guarantee approval.
What if I live on-campus, but will return home and remain there for spring quarter?
Campus Housing recently emailed residents with instructions on how to report your intent to vacate your dorm or apartment. Please refer to their email and/or your Housing/Student Life Office for information on your housing options at this time.
Campus Housing will report housing contract cancelations to the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office. We will then revise your budget from on-campus to remote instruction, and will revise your financial aid. The typical financial aid reduction would be about $1,200 for the spring term, reducing the spring amount from grants first and then loans. However, as you would no longer have the campus housing and dining charges on your account, the net impact to your financial aid will simply be the difference between those charges and the aid reduction. For students who typically receive a refund after disbursement, the refund will be larger. Our goal with this change is that you have adequate resources for your revised housing and meals, as well as increased expenses for technological and transportation resources given the transition to remote instruction.
To determine the impact to your refund if you decide to cancel your housing contract:
- Go to My Student Center on your MyUCSC portal.
- Click on “Finances” to review your spring charges.
- Add up your spring charges but exclude housing charges if they still exist on the account. Your calculation is then your estimated balance due for spring. Write this down.
- From there return to your My Student Center and click on Account Inquiry. Take the Pending Financial Aid Amount listed for spring and subtract $1200. This is your estimated spring financial aid for a remote instruction budget.
- If the amount from step 4 is a positive amount: Take the balance due you calculated from step 3 and deduct the estimated financial aid. This is your estimated refund (excess aid) that will be issued to you via direct deposit or check depending upon how you are signed up to receive refunds. This refund is intended to address your expenses such as housing, food, technology setup for remote instruction, medical and other costs you may incur.
- If the amount from step 4 is negative: The amount you calculated in step 3 is your estimated balance due for spring.
Please ensure you respond to the Campus Housing email as soon as it is received to avoid processing delays with your spring financial aid. It is important that students who plan to return home for the spring quarter also update their local mailing address on your Student Center at my.ucsc.edu.
What if I do not have resources to set up a computer and other software to adequately participate in remote instruction?
If your financial aid (including student loan options) is insufficient for you to effectively engage with this new learning mode, you may email us at finaid@ucsc.edu. We will review your financial aid offer to determine if other resources are available.
If you are moving out of on-campus housing and back home, we expect you will have a higher than normal refund given the billed expenses and the adjusted budget to the remote instruction budget.
Will my scholarship be impacted?
In general scholarship aid, such as Deans scholarship/awards, outside agency scholarships, Regents, Campus Merit, etc., will not be impacted as long as you are enrolled at least half-time (6 credits or more).
How do I get documents to the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office (FASO)?
Unless you are specifically requested to provide paper copies of documents, all documents should be provided to FASO electronically at this time. This can be as a pdf or jpg email attachment to finaid@ucsc.edu from your own @ucsc.edu email address.
CARES Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed into law March 28, 2020, provided funding directly to higher education institutions to support the costs of shifting classes online, and for emergency relief to federally eligible students for basic needs, technology, and other purposes. This funding will be made available to our neediest students based on criteria developed in consultation with multiple campus agencies, including the Dean of Students, SUA and GSA, and the Undergraduate and Graduate Divisions. We will notify all eligible students when funding decisions are finalized.
How do I contact FASO?
The Financial Aid and Scholarship Office is closed to in-person and phone service effective Tuesday, March 17th, until further notice.
Our office will provide service through email to finaid@ucsc.edu and via Zoom Drop-In Advising.
If you have additional questions that were not answered by the information above and are related to financial aid please send an email to finaid@ucsc.edu.
UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) is actively monitoring the spread of the respiratory illness COVID-19. The University’s COVID-19 webpage is being updated regularly, and we encourage you to check it frequently for important updates. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We wish you all the very best during these uncertain times.
