2001-02 Statistical Summary of Financial Aid & Scholarship Recipients

The purpose of the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships (OFA&S) is to provide monetary assistance through the administration of federal, state, institutional, and privately-funded programs to students who can benefit from further education, but who, with the exception of some merit scholarship recipients, cannot do so without such support. Our mission mirrors that of the University, i.e. we are concerned with and committed to the principles of educational diversity, access, choice, and retention for all students. In addition, we place a special emphasis on the equitable distribution of limited financial aid resources and see our role as supporting the faculty and administration of the University in our collective objective of ensuring the academic success of students.

Unfortunately, in recent years OFA&S staff have become all too aware of program limitations. Legislated changes to federal and state regulations can sometimes slow down the financial aid application and delivery process. In addition, the paucity of grant resources at both the federal and state levels frequently places student aid programs in a tenuous position and leaves eligible aid applicants with large loan obligations and/or unmet need. Yet each year more and more students require the services provided by our office. We received over 10,415 aid applications in 2001-02. In a typical week, we estimate that we saw over 300 students and fielded or initiated more than 1,000 phone calls. In addition we coordinated all student stipends, athletic grant-in-aid and scholarships, provided loan counseling and academic progress monitoring, and furnished financial aid outreach services to high schools and community colleges in the CSUB service area.

The attached 2001-02 Statistical Summary - Financial Aid Awards (Table 1) reveals that financial aid was the lifeline for nearly 4,452 students at CSUB - approximately 63% of the total number of enrolled students (AY average head count) and 73% of full-time equivalent students (CY annual). In addition, approximately $23.5 million was allocated to needy and/or deserving students from some 27 different programs. The attached statistical compendium provides a program summary of awards and dollars allocated; an ethnic distribution of recipients; demographic characteristics of recipients including gender, marital status, dependency, living arrangement, academic level, and age; expected family contribution of recipients; family income level of recipients; and a distribution of size of family of recipients.

Of particular interest is the fact that 56% of financial aid recipients come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, 40% are white, and 8% are of unknown ethnic origin (Table 2); 68% of financial aid recipients are female; 72% are not married; 56% are independent; 57% live off campus with someone other than their parents or legal guardian; 33% are at the academic level of senior; and 54% are under the age of 25 (Table 3). In addition, 36% of financial aid recipients have an expected family contribution of $0 (Table 4); 42% have a family income level below $20,000 (Table 5); and nearly 73% have a family size of four or fewer (Table 6).

We share this information in an effort to better inform the University community of our mission and the characteristics of the students we attempt to serve. Should you have any questions concerning the content of the statistical summary, please e-mail at finaid@csub.edu or call the office at phone (661) 654-3016.