This post was updated Dec. 4 at 2:07 p.m.
Jeanneth Chavez – a third-year sociology student and single mother – said she chose to transfer to UCLA after community college because she believed it would allow her to graduate debt-free.
Chavez said she relies on benefits from CalFresh, CalWorks and student aid to cover her groceries, rent and childcare.
However, Chavez said that when she visited the UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office in early November for assistance with the government shutdown-initiated pause on CalFresh benefits and an eviction notice, she discovered $11,000 in charges for overawards. Chavez said she took out a loan of about $4,000 to cover the charge.
“The way that things are set up for me worked out, but I cannot afford for things like this to happen,” Chavez said. “This is the only opportunity that I have to be able to achieve a higher education, and it’s getting ripped right out of my hands.”
UCLA’s new financial aid platform delayed some scholarship payments and overawarded others, sparking frustration among students. UCLA switched to new software – Bruin Financial Aid – this summer to “modernize financial aid processing” and increase efficiency and stability, according to the UCLA Digital and Technology Solutions website.
UCLA’s previous financial aid processing system – Financial Aid Mainframe – had been in use since the 1980s and was at “the end of its lifecycle,” according to the website. Student aid financial aid amounts were adjusted because of state financial aid eligibility requirements and recalculations that came along with UCLA’s new financial aid platform, the UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office said in an emailed statement.
While students were notified of their eligibility for the Middle Class Scholarship – a scholarship for low and middle-income students attending California public colleges – in September, disbursements only began Nov. 26. Financial Aid cited a large volume of about 11,000 recipients for the delay in disbursements, which were originally set for late September, according to archived versions of its website in August.
The UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office also said in the emailed statement that some MCSs are under further review through December.
Chavez later said she reduced her debt to under $5,000 by taking out more loans and grants. However, when she visited the Student Accounts office on Tuesday, she said she was denied a payment plan and found the representative to be dismissive.
“I cannot afford to get loans – I have to think about the future, too,” she said. “Eventually my children will end up going to college. They’re not going to be first generation. I’m starting from zero, and I have to think about the future.”
Maitei Coloma-Terry, a fourth-year theater student, said she had not received her MCS as of Nov. 30. She added that, as a full-time student from a lower-middle-class background, she relies on loans and grants to pay for gas, groceries and books.
Coloma-Terry also said she received an overaward charge of about $600. She added that if she does not receive her MCS in time, she will have to reach out to family to help cover the charge.
“Senior year is already stressful, and the last thing I want to do is worry about the money that I have to pay the school,” Coloma-Terry said.
Cathy Chuong, a second-year psychology student, said in a texted statement that the MCS disbursement appeared in her Winter 2026 BruinBill rather than Fall 2025.
The UCLA Reddit page has more than 90 posts and hundreds of comments about the delay in the MCS, overawards and financial aid issues since September.
“UCLA recognizes that financial aid eligibility can be distressing for students,” the UCLA Financial Aid & Scholarships Office said in the emailed statement. “Our priority remains unchanged: to support our students and ensure that financial aid is delivered as accurately and quickly as possible.”
The Financial Aid website said “unforeseen issues” in the Bruin Financial Aid system led to incorrect adjustments. Aid for some students in the Freshman Summer Program and Transfer Summer Program was incorrectly canceled, and some users saw an incorrect increase on their Fall University Grant or Loan disbursements, according to the site.
The office added in the statement that it is continuing to work with the California Student Aid Commission, Financial Aid & Scholarships, UCLA Digital & Technology Solutions and other campus organizations to improve the new system.
Calvin Lewis, a third-year sociology student, said when he received a $2,000 award after completing TSP in the summer, he did not immediately spend the funds. He added that he later learned the award had been granted in error – an overaward – but had the money to pay it back.
In November he got another similar award, but this time other expenses meant he did not have the funds necessary to pay when an overaward charge was added to his BruinBill, resulting in a late fee charge.
“It was just frustrating to get an overaward on something I never sought to get,” Lewis said. “If I need more money, I might come in and see if there’s a way for me to get more money. But when you just send money out to a student, you leave them with that impression of ‘This is mine to take care of my needs.’”
Lewis said he had to leave his job back home when he transferred to UCLA. Since then, he has struggled to find new employment, making financial aid necessary, he added.
Coloma-Terry said her phone calls and emails to the Financial Aid Office went unanswered, and she had to wait for long periods of time to speak to someone in person. Chavez said she heard conflicting stories from financial aid representatives about her aid package.
Chavez, who previously maintained a 3.7 GPA, said that due to these stressors, she is currently not passing one of her classes. Lewis said the financial aid problems have made it harder for non-traditional students like him who want to put their full attention on school.
“I come from an environment where once you get to school, that’s your main focus, that becomes your job,” he said. “For all the things here, financial aid-wise, to throw me off that focus, it makes school harder.”
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