

Abolish the age limit for Cal Grant Entitlement Awards so I Can Continue to Attend School


Abolish the age limit for Cal Grant Entitlement Awards so I Can Continue to Attend School
The Issue
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I just recently enrolled myself in an Online University so I can get my BA degree in Journalism. For weeks I have been wondering why my financial aid will not go through. My school told me to contact the California Student Aid Commission to find out why I was not receiving financial aid. They told me that I am a competition student because I am over 28 and while I meet the requirements for a competition grant I most likely will not get one for the 2014-2015 school year and I can not receive one for this current school year. I am disabled and on disability. I should qualify for an entitlement grant, but because of how long it took me to complete my AA degree due to my illness I am not getting a grant. The supervisor Thea told me it was a waste of time to fill out an appeal and that getting a lawyer and fighting this is "A waste of time and money". I am devastated by this news and am asking all of you to help me change this law. A person can get a GED at any age and get an entitlement grant. A person can start as a freshman at any age and get an entitlement grant. But a community college transfer student over the age of 28 with a high school degree (a responsible person) can't. This is unfair and it needs to change. I am a 29 year old woman who has a very rare rheumatoid disease called Stills Disease. It is similar to lupus and I have been having a very difficult time staying alive lately. I had to withdraw from community college classes three times due to my health from school. This put me at 28 years old when I graduated community college which is why I don't qualify for the low income grant even though I make 10,000 dollars a year. This law affects so many people besides me because community college is taking longer to finish due to class availability. Thea the supervisor that I spoke to at CSAC kept saying "it’s the law" Well I say that laws are changed all the time. That’s why there is law so that things can change. Let’s break the cycle and shorten the distance between the lower and middle class in California by allowing everyone to get an entitlement grant if they qualify no matter their age. This will lesson the amount of student debt people are in and make are economy grow if less people are in severe student loan debt. Please sign below.

The Issue
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I just recently enrolled myself in an Online University so I can get my BA degree in Journalism. For weeks I have been wondering why my financial aid will not go through. My school told me to contact the California Student Aid Commission to find out why I was not receiving financial aid. They told me that I am a competition student because I am over 28 and while I meet the requirements for a competition grant I most likely will not get one for the 2014-2015 school year and I can not receive one for this current school year. I am disabled and on disability. I should qualify for an entitlement grant, but because of how long it took me to complete my AA degree due to my illness I am not getting a grant. The supervisor Thea told me it was a waste of time to fill out an appeal and that getting a lawyer and fighting this is "A waste of time and money". I am devastated by this news and am asking all of you to help me change this law. A person can get a GED at any age and get an entitlement grant. A person can start as a freshman at any age and get an entitlement grant. But a community college transfer student over the age of 28 with a high school degree (a responsible person) can't. This is unfair and it needs to change. I am a 29 year old woman who has a very rare rheumatoid disease called Stills Disease. It is similar to lupus and I have been having a very difficult time staying alive lately. I had to withdraw from community college classes three times due to my health from school. This put me at 28 years old when I graduated community college which is why I don't qualify for the low income grant even though I make 10,000 dollars a year. This law affects so many people besides me because community college is taking longer to finish due to class availability. Thea the supervisor that I spoke to at CSAC kept saying "it’s the law" Well I say that laws are changed all the time. That’s why there is law so that things can change. Let’s break the cycle and shorten the distance between the lower and middle class in California by allowing everyone to get an entitlement grant if they qualify no matter their age. This will lesson the amount of student debt people are in and make are economy grow if less people are in severe student loan debt. Please sign below.

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Petition created on April 14, 2014