The recession and financial crisis that began in 2007-2008 has forced many students to take on debt. After the effects of the recession have set-in, many students are left facing a diminishing job market with immense amounts of debt.
While well intentioned legislation hopes to help alleviate student debt, it fails to address the culprit behind crushing repayment plans: private loans and corporate banks.
Resource centers fight to accomplish the UC’s goal of ethnically diversifying the student body. At UCSC, programs like Engaging Education and the Ethnic Resource Center struggle to counteract cuts through outreach and retention efforts.
UC Santa Cruz alumnus Gabe Zimmerman was one of the six people killed during the Tucson, Ariz. shooting earlier this month. Alumni are working to raise money for the Zimmerman scholarship, which will aid undergraduates in the social sciences.
Funding for the Federal Pell Grant is short $5.7 billion this year. Up to 70,000 UC students and 8,200 UCSC students could be affected.
Veterans have historically been given the promise of an education, but for those who risk their lives without citizenship, that is no guarantee. The DREAM Act could change this, by making it easier for undocumented students to attend college. The UCSC community plays its part in securing the passage of the state and federal DREAM Acts.
“We have to fix this or we have no future” John Plotts, Assistant Vice President-Finance.
The United States Student Association (USSA) is urging collegiates nationwide to contact their local senators and fight for student aid reform legislation in a week they have entitled “Raising Pell.” The members of the USSA have strategically decided to go into action the week before the ballot goes out to raise awareness to politicians about the need for student aid reform.
The University of California Student Association (UCSA) voted in early August to campaign for the preservation of Cal Grants by pushing the state to amend its constitution.
The campaign came in response to Gov. Swarzenegger’s proposed state budget revision that opts to phase out Cal Grants starting in 2011. If Cal grants are not made permanent prior to that date, nearly half the undergraduate population at UCSC could eventually be affected.
With California inching closer towards insolvency, legislators must find a way to cut $24 billion from the state budget. But what do students in higher education stand to lose in the budget crisis? City on a Hill takes a closer look at the proposed cuts to the Cal Grant.