Students Need to Know More About Aid, Educators Say

State and local community college officials say they are studying new standards for counseling in an effort to increase student participation in financial aid programs.

Responding to an article in the Los Angeles Times last month that found that tens of thousands of poor students in California community colleges do not receive federal financial aid, state Community College Chancellor Thomas J. Nussbaum said his office will draft new policies to better inform students.

“Students need personal care and handling,” Nussbaum said. “If they don’t get it, we will lose them.”

Marshall Drummond, chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District, the largest district in the state, said he has convened an internal task force of financial aid specialists to look at the issue. He also has authorized funds for an independent consultant to guide the task force’s efforts.

His plan is to develop a system of “best practices” to address the problem at the district’s nine colleges, Drummond said. “We have to be a little smarter,” he said.

The Times story documented how, in contrast to students at more elite universities, many poor students attending California community colleges never apply for federal Pell Grants due to apathy, confusion or ignorance.

Thousands of others wait until the last minute to apply, or pay the full cost of supporting themselves and attending school for several semesters before realizing they are eligible.

According to financial-aid cost models for community college students, the investment of time and the reduction in possible earnings proves more expensive than fees and books. The California Student Aid Commission estimates accordingly that the total cost of attending a community college for a year is about $5,600 for students living at home. Pell Grants are meant to cover a portion of these costs.

By contrast, the cost for a student to live on campus and pay fees at a major four-year university is about $13,700. In both cases, the biggest costs are food and housing.

In The Times’ analysis, about 10,000 students in the Los Angeles district who did not receive federal financial aid were found to likely qualify for it. Statewide, 100,000 students were poor enough to be on welfare but did not receive grants.

Nussbaum said he has discussed the issue with state Education Secretary Gary K. Hart and will convene a state task group to recommend ways to ensure that more students get the aid.

Recommendations under consideration include better integration of counseling with other student services such as admissions, expanding eligibility for state financial aid programs and investing in new statewide outreach efforts to high school students, said Edward Gould, state community college vice chancellor of student services.

“We have an old model of getting information across,” Gould said. Students who need information “have to go on a hunt to find it.”