Students Express Frustrations About the Middle Class Scholarship

On the UC San Diego subreddit, multiple UCSD students have made posts asking if others had delays receiving their Middle Class Scholarship (MSC), with commenters saying that they were also either experiencing delays, the amount they received was lowered, or their scholarships were applied in a way that they did not expect.

The Middle Class Scholarship is for University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) students who are California residents and have a family income of $201,000 or less.

The delay with the Middle Class Scholarship is not specific to UCSD — all CSU campuses have also experienced delays in awarding the MCS for the 2022-23 school year.

Iris Chen, a second-year Clinical Psychology major, shared some of her experience with the scholarship. Chen received an email from the UCSD Financial Aid and Scholarships Office in October 2022 that said the scholarship would be sent out by late November 2022.

“I did not receive my amounts for Fall and Winter until mid-January after Winter [tuition] fees were due,” Chen said.

In addition to the delay, Chen had to have a Zoom meeting with a UCSD financial aid advisor and then wait a week for the scholarship amount to be added to her financial aid because it was not done automatically. The amount she received was also $2,000 less than what was expected because of institutional aid.  Institutional aid is money that comes from the university, and is usually given in the form of grants or scholarships.

Despite the inconvenience of these issues, Chen stated, “I am grateful that the MCS exists because the extra $3,000 helps me cover textbooks, online homework access codes, and gas.”

Arlene Nagtalon, a second-year Molecular and Cell Biology major, is another student who qualified for the scholarship.  She stated that she had “very mixed feelings about it this year” and that the waiting period was “nerve-wracking.”

As a way to try to relieve her concerns, Nagtalon continued to apply to other scholarships. After looking through Reddit and seeing that other people were also experiencing the same issues as she was, Nagtalon thought it was reassuring to know she was not the only one who had to wait.

The amount of scholarship money Nagtalon received this year in January was lower than the amount she received last year, which she did not expect.

“It’s really frustrating to know that the amount I was offered last year was decreased now considering that, you know, my family is still considered middle class and we haven’t done anything to either increase or decrease [the amount]; our family income has stayed pretty much the same,” Nagtalon stated.

Nagtalon continued to convey the concerns she had, not only for herself, but for other students who would hope to benefit from this scholarship.

“I’m lucky to still be living at home, and this is my second year commuting as well, but I do know friends who rely on these types of scholarships for rent, and you know, groceries and other things — basic needs essentially,” Nagtalon said.

For Nagtalon, receiving an email or other form of communication to let her know that the scholarship amount she was receiving this year would be less compared to last year would have been preferred to the unpleasant surprise of the decrease.  She still does not know the reason for the change in the amount she was given. 

Silvia Marquez, Executive Director of the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, explained that the amount of scholarship funds that were awarded had changed for some students due to adjustments made to the MCS program.

“The MCS program was expanded beginning in the 2022-23 academic year as part of the state budget agreement, which included a $515 million ongoing augmentation to increase the number of eligible students in California,” Marquez said. “Overall, students saw an increase in the amount of gift aid awarded.”

As a result of this expansion, the formula that determines the award amount a student receives was updated to take into account a student’s total cost of attendance instead of just tuition costs.

Marquez said that as a result of this new formula, “At UC San Diego, the number of eligible students grew by approximately 800%, from just over 1,200 eligible students in 2021-22 to over 11,000 in 2022-23.”

According to Marquez, MCS funds are still being awarded weekly, and the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office is in communication with colleagues across the UC system to give feedback on the updated MCS program.

Alorah Atondo is a Copy editor and News writer for The Triton.