Pell Grants

It is vital that the entirety of UC Berkeley’s student population works together to ensure #CalCounts.

In 2013, UC Berkeley alumni, Danny Murillo and Steven Czifra, met on campus and shared their backgrounds on being formerly incarcerated and system impacted individuals. Together, Murillo and Czifra co-founded the Underground Scholars Initiative, or USI, a student-run organization for those who have been personally impacted by the U.S. criminal justice system.

An article published by The Student Loan Report earlier this month reported that seven UC campuses ranked in the top 10 public schools for average financial aid received by freshmen.

The ranking is based on a university’s enrollment of lower- and middle-income students and the net price for the students to attend these universities.

In 2011, before economic insecurity brought an end to year-round Pell Grants, more than 13,500 UC students received $18 million in Pell Grant aid to cover their summer sessions, according to the UC Pell Grant Fact Sheet. The Pell program now has a funding surplus, and advocates believe that the program can be expanded to help students finance their summer studies while ensuring its financial stability in the future.

After receiving specific information regarding the allocation of UC President Janet Napolitano’s $5 million initiative to aid undocumented students, campus administrators are developing a plan to divide up funds between programs and financial aid for undocumented undergraduates by the end of February 2014.