The budget crisis that the State of California had the last few weeks is the reason that there was a 45-day delay on the funding of the Cal Grant for the spring semester.

Veronica Castro, account technician, said, “On Feb. 20, we learned from the state that there was going to be a 45-day delay on the money for Cal Grants, only 85 percent of the advancement that we normally get, was sent to us this semester.”

“There were about 200 students that did not get their Cal Grant money,” Castro added. “But they will get it when by mid to end of the semester.”

She continued, “Many of them have other rewards funded by other programs like scholarships or Pell Grant, but still many students called me concern that they were not going to get their money, but they are surprisingly understanding of the situation.”

Angela Thompson, criminal justice major, said, “I was shocked when I found out that I wasn’t going to get the Cal Grant money.

“I am a single mom of three. I need to support my family and go to school. I did receive money from scholarships, but I was really counting on this money.

“My son, that also attends Cerritos, has to buy tools for his automotive class. I will have to ask family members or my church to borrow money.”

The Cal Grant money that was received was disburse to those students that apply the earliest, the ones that waited a little longer to apply were the ones that were affected by the delay.

There is no set date on when the Cal Grant money will be disburse. The 45-day delay is all the information that the financial aid office received from the state.

Castro has been working at Cerritos for four years and never saw anything like this.

She says that two years ago, the school had received more money than it needed and it had to send some back. That was only one time though.