2003-04 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 has 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 11,120 aid applications in 2003-04. In a typical busy week, we saw over 300 students and fielded or initiated more than 900 phone calls. In addition we coordinated all scholarships, student stipends, and athletic grant-in-aid, provided loan counseling and academic progress monitoring, and, along with Outreach Services and Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) staff, furnished financial aid outreach services to high schools, continuation schools, and community colleges in the CSUB service area.

The 2003-04 Statistical Summary - Financial Aid Awards (Table 1) reveals that financial aid was the lifeline for some 5,375 students at CSUB - approximately 67.8% of the total number of enrolled students (Fall head count) and 80.1% of full-time equivalent students (Fall FTES). In addition, approximately $31.8 million was allocated to needy and/or deserving students from some 24 major programs. The statistical compendium provides a program summary of financial aid expenditures by campus/program; an academic year expenditure comparison; 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 significance is the fact that 57.7% of financial aid recipients who reported their ethnicity come from diverse ethnic backgrounds (Table 2), 68.9% of financial aid recipients are female, 78.1% who reported their marital status are not married, 57.8% who reported dependency status are independent, 71.4% who reported their living arrangements live off campus with someone other than their parents or legal guardian, 53.3% who reported academic level are upper-division students at the level of junior or senior, and 73.7% are under the age of 30 (Table 3). In addition, 31.5% of financial aid recipients where applicable have an expected family contribution of $0 (Table 4), where known 58.8% have a family income level below $30,000 (Table 5), and where reported nearly 79.2% 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 us at finaid@csub.edu or call the office at phone (661) 654-3016.