UCI’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) and its late dispersal of aid packages have become a contentious topic going into the 2024-25 academic year. Though the technical difficulties that OFAS has been experiencing, which the office has been using to justify the delays, are understandable, their actions are anything but. OFAS’s lack of transparency and failure to responsibly release aid rewards are sending thousands of students into emotional and financial distress.
The office’s insufficient communication has kept students in the dark all summer about when offers would be sent out. In mid-August, OFAS sent an email acknowledging potential delays and stated that aid would be applied by the end of the month. Students were met with silence on the last day of August. On the evening of Sept. 3, OFAS’s email cited backlog from FAFSA as the reason for delays, vaguely implying that they’re working to release offers later that week. The week came and passed without a word. It wasn’t until Sept. 10 — less than a week from the upcoming quarter fee deadline — that many students finally received their aid.
OFAS’s recognition of financial security as essential to “planning and peace of mind” in their Sept. 3 email is ironic, given that they put communication with students on the back burner. Many parents and students saw the Tuesday following Labor Day weekend as an opportunity to call the office for answers. They were once again subjected to silence, with the office not accepting calls despite it being a regular workday. Students now are given wait times ranging anywhere from 15 to 50 hours for a call back, with some being met with an automated message simply instructing them to call back at a later time.
Though OFAS has previously been subject to criticism for their ability to assist individual students with financial aid issues, what thousands of students have been subjected to in the summer of 2024 is nothing short of egregious. Just days before UCI’s fee deadline for the fall quarter — where students must pay thousands of dollars to remain enrolled in the institution — many are finding out they have been given significantly less money than they have in previous years.
Despite this significant decrease in student funds, UCI Digest and UCI In the News send emails campus-wide boasting their record-breaking donations for the 2023-24 fiscal year and the $343 million they fundraised through donors. The school’s “Brilliant Future Campaign” comes across as tone-deaf as UCI proudly displays the $1.9 billion dollars they’ve been able to raise since 2015. Students who now have to take out $20,000 in student loans don’t feel as though they are being set up for a “brilliant future.”
UCI forums such as r/UCI are flooded with students in distress over a financial situation that they have been given mere days to sort out. Some are reporting that they have been put in a position where they need to withdraw from UCI entirely, others saying they now need to defer a quarter in order to navigate their newfound financial crisis.
OFAS continues to play with students’ emotions, prematurely releasing offer letters that are missing government aid, such as the Cal Grant. Some students have opened their California Student Aid Commission portals to find that they did indeed receive Cal Grant for the 2024-25 academic year, but their “finalized” offer letter released by OFAS was missing the grant completely.
Though it is undeniable that OFAS and its staff have worked around the clock to rectify the issues it has faced this summer — with staff announcing they will be working throughout the weekend — there is no doubt that the situation could have been handled better. Students living in fear throughout and beyond the summer is a reflection of OFAS’s lack of communication and UCI’s unwillingness to work with their students’ financial needs.
As opposed to allowing students and OFAS staff to sort through the influx of issues by extending the fee deadline, the deadline is set to remain Sept. 16. UCI has taken “accountability” for the situation through its mass emails to the student body, but accountability without effective action is objectively null and void.
Students are in a frenzy, with many scrambling to figure out what comes next. Just as OFAS was given the time to sort through its circumstances, it is irresponsible for UCI not to extend the same privilege to its own student body.
Editor’s note: Editorials should not be interpreted to reflect the opinion, thoughts or beliefs of any individual New University editor, staff member or affiliate.
