Several courses suffer loss of federal support

By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Contributor

Federal financial aid has been cut for about 500 students in
UCLA Extension courses that failed to meet certain U.S. Department
of Education guidelines.

Federal Stafford Loans and Pell Grants will not be available to
students in 28 unapproved extension programs which had been
approved for the past 20 years. The impacted classes include those
that do not go toward any degree at UCLA.

UCLA officials are currently working to find alternate financial
sources.

“If this would have happened a year ago, I would have
stopped taking classes,” said Robert Looper, a student in the
computer graphics program who is graduating in June. “A lot
of students are going to have that situation.”

UCLA Extension is a continuing higher education provider that
offers classes and certificate programs. Most extension students
are working adults. Looper, for example, has worked full time for
four years while taking extension courses.

UCLA Extension sent out letters to students affected by the
changes, explaining what was going on. They also offered to
individually meet with affected students, said Julie Jaskol, a
spokeswoman for UCLA Extension.

Other students, including Looper, went to Financial Aid
themselves when their check did not arrive for spring quarter.

“The edict from the Department of Education doesn’t
even allow students to complete the current year. It cuts
everything off,” Looper said.

Jaskol said she has heard from about half of the students and
she hopes that things can be worked out.

“I’m really confident that there are other resources
that we can help provide so they can go ahead without financial
hardship and too much interruption,” Jaskol said.

UCLA Extension plans on helping students in financial need
through extension grants, according to Jaskol. These grants are
already awarded to some students with financial need, but students
receiving federal aid are not eligible for them. UCLA Extension is
also giving affected students information about private loans.

“They’re taking a pretty proactive stance,”
Looper said.

All university programs and majors must be approved by the DOE
before students can be given federal funding, but certificate
programs must meet stricter requirements, according to a DOE
spokesman.

“One reason why classes weren’t approved is that
they did not provide credits that were transferable to UCLA for an
undergraduate degree,” Jaskol said.

Classes that do not provide transferrable units are counted
differently when the DOE determines if a program has enough
instruction time to be valid, the DOE spokesman said.

The DOE reviews higher education programs every four to six
years to see if the programs meet the department’s standards.
Jaskol said submitting information electronically for the first
time may be a reason the programs weren’t approved.

“My assumption is that the electronic system they used
caught discrepancies that the human system did not notice in the
past. We were unaware of them and the Department of Education was
unaware,” Jaskol said.

The Financial Aid office handled certification for all UCLA
programs, including extension programs, and is working with the DOE
to solve the problem. Financial Aid declined to comment on the
problem while it is being resolved.

Looper said he doubts Financial Aid will be able to do
anything.

“I think the Department of Education has just given
Financial Aid something they have to deal with,” Looper
said.

Despite this, Looper said he is still supportive of the
financial aid office. He said they have helped students find
alternatives, unlike the DOE, which has just handed down
policy.

“There’s no explanation given from the government. I
just see that there’s a new administration and new
policy,” Looper said.

Although programs are reviewed every four to six years, affected
students may not have to wait that long for federal aid. If the
appropriate changes are made, federal aid can be given sooner,
according to the DOE.

Jaskol said though the situation is unfortunate, extension looks
at more than just financial aid eligibility in course creation.

“It’s terrific when courses do qualify for federal
aid but that’s not the reason that we design the courses. We
design them to meet the needs of our students. We do not submit all
of our programs for federal aid, we only submit a certain
number,” Jaskol said.