School of Education Webinar Highlights What Students Need to Access Community College Financial Aid

California’s community college system serves nearly 2 million students across 116 campuses. Yet for many Californians, systemic barriers continue to stand in the way of enrollment and completion. Chief among them is financial aid.

Applying for aid can be daunting, especially for low-income and first-generation students. Complex forms, confusion over true college costs, and fears about taking on debt often make the process harder to navigate than the coursework itself.

Researchers from the California Education Lab and Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research took a closer look at these challenges during the UC Davis School of Education’s recent webinar, “Untangling the Knot: How Students and Institutions Navigate the Complexities of Community College Financial Aid.” Panelists drew on statewide high school surveys, community college administrative data, and student interviews to shed light on how the financial aid system shapes who enrolls and who finishes.

While the research points to several potential levers for improving student access to financial aid, panelists agreed that any reform must reflect the experiences of the students and financial aid professionals who navigate the processes daily.

“Challenges with financial aid are compounded on both ends of the spectrum,” explained Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza, a School of Education Ph.D. candidate and Senior Analyst at EdTrust West. “There are the students who encounter barriers—especially those who are marginalized—but also financial aid officers who wear eight different hats at once. Instead of guessing how the system should be less cryptic and more student friendly, we should ask them.”

Where Applicants Get Lost in the Process

One of the clearest opportunities for improvement lies in how campuses communicate the steps between applying for aid and receiving it. A statewide policy requires all high school seniors to submit a financial aid application or formally opt out, giving most students at least an initial foothold. But once they start receiving more information about grant and loan options, the process can become confusing.

Dr. Elizabeth Friedmann, research fellow at Wheelhouse, noted that seemingly simple errors can derail an application. This can range from listing the colleges a student plans to attend to submitting tax returns and verifying their identity through the Department of Education. If a student doesn’t have all the information, or a support network to advise them, they may submit incorrect forms and miss out on funding—or give up on financial aid altogether.

These challenges are often exacerbated along socioeconomic, racial, and generational lines. One Latinx student told researchers that gathering parent information required navigating language barriers. “The hardest part of the application was the information that surrounded my parents,” she said. “I’m a first-generation student: communicating with them across different language barriers was difficult.”

“Our work revealed the importance of clear and accurate information,” said Friedmann. “Campuses should make sure their websites are easy to understand and navigate. But there also needs to be consistent information across campus. The financial aid office should be interacting with other departments, talking to counseling, and encouraging faculty to put resources in their syllabi.”

Ramirez-Mendoza recommended short instructional videos and sample scenarios that demonstrate how different people might respond to complex application questions. Greater flexibility about the types of forms and how they’re signed and submitted could also be helpful.

What Expanded Aid Could Mean for Students

The application may be complicated, but the amount of aid available also influences who enrolls and who doesn’t. Preliminary findings presented by School of Education Professor Dr. Paco Martorell showed that the recent Cal Grant expansion may significantly increase financial aid access for community college students, especially those with socioeconomic disadvantages or low GPAs.

“The expansion increased full-time enrollment,” Martorell explained. “There was a 4% increase in units completed during 2021, the expansion year, signaling less part-time and more full-time enrollment. We also see a three percentage point increase in the rate of degree completion for an associate’s degree or certificate.”

Martorell cautioned that the COVID-19 pandemic complicates this analysis. “It can be difficult to tease out the expansion effect because so many other changes were happening in higher education at the same time,” said Martorell.

Even so, early data suggests the expansion could offer meaningful support at a time when affordability concerns dominate students’ decision-making. In a 2024 survey, 47% of high school seniors were very worried about college costs and 44% were somewhat worried. Less than 20% of survey participants were not at all worried about college expenses.

“We asked respondents how concerned they were about a host of college challenges, including being able to afford tuition, balancing work and school obligations, affording living expenses, getting good grades, finding community, and living away from home,” said Dr. Jacob Jackson, California Education Lab’s Director of Research Partnerships. “Being able to afford tuition, balancing work and school obligations, and affording living expenses were the three things respondents were most concerned about.”

Building a More Supportive Path Forward

Despite the system’s complexity, one theme emerged repeatedly: students successfully file financial aid applications when they have people to guide them. Teachers, counselors, administrators, and financial aid officers were the most frequently cited sources of support. These networks, researchers noted, are already doing the heavy lifting and could serve as a foundation for improving access to financial aid statewide.

“When we asked high school seniors ‘Who helped you apply for college?’ overwhelmingly, they found help at their schools.” Jackson said. “Students listed high school counselors and teachers as the primary sources that helped them apply for aid or college.”

Having individuals who know a student’s background and help them anticipate challenges or talk through confusing documentation could alleviate barriers to financial aid. Trusted adults can help students anticipate verification processes, clarify confusing documentation, and stay on track through a multi-step process that often spans months. Strengthening these networks, researchers said, may be one of the most direct ways to help students secure the funding they need.

Watch the full webinar presentation on YouTube to learn more.