The California State University is an engine of economic and social mobility and is committed to maintaining access and affordability for all Californians. In this vein, the university provides a high-quality education at one of the lowest tuition rates in the country—just more than $6,000 per academic year for undergraduates—and provides a robust
financial aid program.
Though tuition remains low, the CSU recognizes the financial challenges students may face and provides aid in several forms including grants, fee waivers, scholarships, work study and loans. Nearly half of all CSU undergraduate students receive federal Pell Grants, and financial aid is available for
undocumented students through Cal Grants, the Middle Class Scholarship and State University Grants (SUG), among other sources.
Nearly 80% of CSU students receive need-based financial aid and more than 60% of all enrolled undergraduate students have their tuition fully covered by grants, scholarships or waivers. About 63% of bachelor’s graduates from the Class of 2023 finished with zero education loan debt, and for those who did accrue debt, the amount was significantly lower than state and national averages.
As a testament to the CSU’s commitment to affordability, the CSU Board of Trustees approved a tuition policy in 2023 that ensures at least one-third of tuition revenue will be designated for student financial aid.
‘A Monumental Effort’
Each of the 23 universities has a dedicated financial aid office that is responsible for helping students and their families understand what type of aid is available to them and how to obtain it. They are also responsible for preparing and communicating information on financial aid—information that can be paramount to a student’s decision to attend college or not.
This spring, financial aid staff overcame challenges in delivering vital aid to students for the 2024-25 academic year caused by
serious challenges with the federal rollout of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The new FAFSA was launched three months later than anticipated, and users experienced technical issues that delayed the department in processing completed applications, preventing colleges and universities across the country from delivering aid packages to students and, in some cases, preventing students from applying at all.
Realizing the potential for countless students to lose critical financial support, the CSU Chancellor’s Office worked quickly and closely with the CSU’s 23 financial aid offices to mitigate the potential impact. Among efforts were active social media campaigns to remind students about new deadlines and encourage them to persevere in submitting their applications.
In February, the university
extended the intent to register deadline for fall 2024 for new first-time to no earlier than May 15, 2024, for first-year admitted students. Subsequently, more than half of the CSU’s 23 universities independently extended their intent to register deadlines to June 1, 2024, or beyond to allow families more time to receive and consider financial aid packages.
Of particular concern to the CSU was the plight of an estimated 108,000 “mixed-status” students—students who are U.S. citizens but have one or more parents without a Social Security Number (SSN). Without entering a parent’s SSN, these students were, in effect, blocked from applying for aid via the FAFSA. In April, the CSU joined the California Student Aid Commission, the University of California, and the California Community Colleges in
announcing an alternative financial aid application for state and institutional funding.
Additionally, a CSU “tiger team” was enlisted to address emerging issues and advocate for action and direct assistance from the U.S. Department of Education. In fact, CSU Chancellor Mildred García personally, regularly and proactively reached out to the department on behalf of CSU students during this challenging time.
Campuses ramped up efforts to address students’ needs including offering care and reassurance, troubleshooting technical needs, hosting information sessions, processing provisional aid offers and more. Sacramento State, for example, held weekly “Financial Aid Application Assistance Sessions” in-person and over Zoom during the spring 2024 term.
Cal State Fullerton’s Office of Financial Aid
hosted its first-ever FAFSA and California Dream Act Application (CADAA) completion event for the community. More than 300 students and their families attended in-person, and hundreds more via livestream, hearing presentations in both English and Spanish on how to complete FAFSA and CADAA, as well as application assistance. In addition to the event, CSUF hosted 25 virtual webinars, 12 Zoom drop-in hours, 7 pop-up tabling events and 18 in-person drop-in hours.
Campuses have also found creative ways to fill financial gaps while students wait for their FAFSA to be approved, including postponing fee collection and pooling resources from basic needs funds programs for financial aid.
All of these efforts reflect “a monumental effort across the system to attract, enroll and support potential scholars and to set them on a path to earning a CSU degree,” Noelia Gonzalez, Systemwide Director for Financial Aid Programs, said in a
presentation to the CSU Board of Trustees at its September 2024 meeting.
Offsetting the Total Cost of College
In addition to a robust financial aid program, the CSU offers supportive financial services that help offset academic and non-academic costs associated with attending college. These efforts align with the university’s
Basic Needs Initiative, which takes a holistic look at students’ well-being both inside and outside the classroom.
To ensure students have access to nutritious food, each of the 23 universities has established a food pantry or food distribution system on campus and provides
CalFresh outreach, education and application assistance. Many campuses also provide cooking classes and recipes to help students prepare healthy and inexpensive meal options.
The CSU continues to expand its efforts to
battle housing insecurity and homelessness among students—all 23 universities now offer some form of emergency housing assistance, with 22 providing on-campus emergency housing and 16 providing off-campus emergency housing.
To help students pay for unexpected expenses that could derail their educational journey, the CSU provides emergency financial aid in the form of one-time grants. These can be used to cover unexpected expenses for food, housing, transportation including car maintenance, medical expenses and more.
In addition to monetary assistance, CSU campuses are working to increase students’ financial literacy so they can make informed decisions in college and for their future. Staff from CSU basic needs offices teach students about responsible lending and credit card use and help them understand the most effective way to use scholarship and grant funding.
The CSU is also working to reduce the cost of learning materials through its
Affordable Learning Solutions (AL$) program. AL$ recommends a combination of open educational resources, library materials, digital or customized textbooks and faculty-authored materials that, when combined, save CSU students across California approximately $77 million annually, as of 2021.
To learn more about supportive financial resources for students, visit the CSU’s Financial Aid and Basic Needs Initiative websites.