Santa Clara University
Scholarships

Lack of Communication

I had to take out more loans than I would have liked to and the communication between the financial aid office and student/parents is definitely lacking. Students working in the office are not that helpful and no one in charge seems to be around. My work study grant was given to another person with a similar name and it was difficult to meet with the right person to correct that.

Apply for Outside Scholarships

I got a pretty decent scholarship and I didn't even apply for it. Many of my friends are on full-ride, but if you don't have high test scores or special considerations, then you're pretty much out of luck.

Not a Lot of Aid Available

Santa Clara has many highly intellectual students. This makes receiving financial aid extremely difficult unless you have greater than a 3.9 GPA or are a first generation minority student. When you call the financial aid office you tend to get put on the phone with students who are not very helpful on all aspects of the school's finacial aid program. However, once you get in touch with the finacial aid advisor, the process smooths itself out generally.