After conducting the research it became apparent that regardless of their ethnicity, each of our interviews needed additional financial support and scholarships or they had to depend on loans in order to make it through college. We found that all of our interviewees were denied even sufficient government financial aid. Some were told the little money their parents did earn was too much and that they would need to take out additional loans. The burden of having to worry about paying for college has caused many first-generation college students to ending their college careers before completing their degree. One interviewee stated:

I'm being helped by financial aid and then a couple of other scholarships that I've been applying for and stuff. And like the rest my parents help me out and stuff. For a while I use to like, think that I wasn't going to finish school, you know. Cause I did enjoy coming to school and everything, but cause seeing how my parents were struggling to get the money and stuff, but they were working and everything. I just felt bad; I didn't want to be taking that money away from them when they can be using for something else, but they were using it to pay for my education. And I guess I just thought about it real good and one of my friends here - you know what if you want to leave school, and get a job to help your parents - you don't you just continue school, you know finish out - and then when you finish you could get a job and that way you could pay them back. So I guess that was what made me change my mind too. So I was planning to drop school and stuff, and help them out, but I changed my mind. (Yolanda X.)

    The article "Helping First Generation Minority Students" mentions this problem. "Students' preparation for the economic realities of college life also differed. Those from college-educated families had information about sources of financial aid and clear expectations about how to make ends meet, while first generation college students did not." Another interviewee's testimony supports this by stating:

Well, I was trying to do the little loan thing but I am hip to that and now I'm trying to do work study and they just opened the upward bound program here on campus for Watsonville High School and I'm working with them right now cause I want to help with the upward bound program. Right now I just make it some how. I don't know (laugh) I just sort of hustle I guess. If I had more money I think I would be gone a lot more. It's like I kind of like being a starving student if you know what I mean. It keeps me focused. I know what I need to do. I know why I am in this position. It kind of keeps me humble. (Joseph)

Another interviewee stated,

I don't get anything, this year actually I got zero money from financial aid, uh I took out a loan and that basically covered everything, cause I'm not living here on campus, so that's one of the reasons why I live in Salinas. Uh, they said I made too much money cause I worked and, (a little giggle) so they said no, but hopefully for next fall I do get something at least a dollar (another giggle) something will be good. (Vargas)

    In "Discordant Voices in the Urban Community College", Weis argues that some white students are recipients of financial aid but that all " black" students received it, which we found to contradict more than three of the interviews we conducted. In the Weis study, all students who applied for financial aid were able to receive aid, while most of our interviewees were denied aid and directed towards taking a loan. Our interviews indicate that many students are in need of much more financial aid than they are receiving.