Q Is there any advice you can give to students about financial aid?

A I would encourage students to apply on time, and if you need any assistance, ask us, or go to our computer lab. We have staff there that can assist students and help them complete the application process. [Students should] make corrections if they’ve made any mistakes. [Students can] make appointments to come and see us, or come in on a drop-in basis. They can see one of my advisers, or they can see me. You must be enrolled in units, and you must have a degree objective. You can’t come and take classes, just for the sake of taking classes, you have to be enrolled in a program that is eligible for a degree, certificate, or for transfer credits for a four year school. There are strings attached to everything, especially to funds from the federal government and state, so in order to continue your eligibility, you must maintain academic progress. Complete all your units…with at least a C average.

Q Do you feel the online financial aid system is user friendly, or that it can be improved, and if so, how?

A The Department of Education dictates the requirements; years ago they used to send us the applications, but they gave us plenty of notice when they told us “We’re no longer sending you hard copy applications, we’re transitioning to electronic applications. So, you need to be thinking about transitioning and helping students learn how to apply online”. And so, we decided, at Fresno City College, we were going to invest in a computer lab, and put 20 computers in the lab, and staff to help students, and we’re going to help students learn how to apply online. It’s much quicker; you can transfer an application in just a few seconds. You can get your results back much quicker, and the signature is just a [four digit] pin number. Students should learn to use the technology, because when you get out into the real world, it’s all going to be technology. If you don’t know how to [use technology] take a computer class. That is the tool you’re going to need to survive in this world.

Q How many FCC students apply for financial aid?

A This past year we had 32,005 students apply for financial aid, and the enrollment is only about 24,000. Right now we have a little over…29,000 applications. Not all those students are, probably, going to enroll because we don’t have enough classes for them, but we have a lot of applicants. About 21,000 students receive a fee waver, and about 87 percent of students receive some form of assistance.

Q Have applications gone down?

A They’ve gone up. When I started here, in 1990, we received 5,400 applications; in the past twenty years it has raised to 32,000 applications. We’ve gone from distributing $5 million to $58.5 million in loans and aid. So every year has been increasing. That tells you that we are serving out students, that we are providing a valuable service to our students. Here in California, it is the best opportunity to go to college at only $26 a unit, and if you qualify for the fee waiver, we wave the enrollment fee, and you can take as many units as you want and all the fees are waived.

Q What about federal work study? Why does there seem to be a significant cut back? What can be done to help students?

A This year we received approximately $624 thousand, and we use that money to help students with part time job on campus. So if during the application process a student asks to be considered for the federal work study, we will take them on a first come, first serve basis, and if they are eligible, we will award them $2,500, half earned in the fall, half earned in the spring. At $8 an hour, and 15 hours a week, students can work on campus. This is a form of financial aid that the students earn.

Q What are the boundaries on what financial aid can and cannot be used for?

A Financial aid is intended to help a student with educational costs. Tuition, fees, books, supplies, room and board, transportation to put gas in the car, bus tickets, and personal miscellaneous, mainly hygienic things. It’s not intended for you to buy a new car, go on vacation, or go gambling. This is all on our website under student budgets. If it is brought to our attention that students have falsified information, we will call the student in and verify this. We get calls from all kinds of people, students and neighbors, and once we have knowledge that something is going on it is our responsibility to look into it. Sometimes it isn’t true, and sometimes we have to take action, but most students use that money for school expenses. If we find that someone is misusing school funds, we report them to the Board of Education and they have to pay all of that money back, and there is also a fine for committing fraud.

Q What kind of recourses do you require in order to facilitate students receiving financial aid in a reasonable amount of time?

A The application process is available to students starting Jan. 1 of every year, and students have from January to August to complete the application process, and to submit any required documents to the office so that we can determine eligibility. As long as Students get their application in on time, and turn in all of the documents we request on time…if they are eligible they will receive their funds on time. But when a student waits [too long] to apply…then you run the risk of not getting it in on time for us to review, and the longer a student waits…you run the risk of having to wait a little bit longer to get served.