UC Covers Tuition For California Families Earning Under $100,000
The University of California’s Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan covers systemwide tuition and fees for California residents with family incomes under $100,000 who qualify for financial aid.
For students entering UC in 2026-27, that’s worth $15,588 a year, made up of $14,202 in tuition and a $1,386 student services fee, according to UC’s 2026-27 fee schedule.
The plan applies at every undergraduate UC campus, including Berkeley and UCLA, and puts UC on the list of colleges offering free tuition below set income limits.
Why It Matters
Blue and Gold covers tuition and the student services fee, but not room and board, books or transportation. UC says eligible students receive “an average aid package including up to $22,000 in grants and scholarships,” which can go toward some of those other costs, according to the Blue and Gold page.
Families should look at the full net price of college rather than the tuition line alone.
Families earning more than $100,000 still have state aid available. California’s Middle Class Scholarship served families with income and assets up to $234,000 in 2025-26, according to a UC financial aid presentation for counselors.
That program depends on state funding each year, and a recent California budget proposal would have reduced middle-class financial aid.
The Fine Print
Eligibility rules come from UC Merced’s Blue and Gold page and UC Admissions, and most of them overlap with the Cal Grant application process:
- Residency: Students must be California residents
- Income: Under $100,000, using parent income for dependent students and student plus spouse income for independent students
- Need: Students must show financial need and meet UC’s basic grant requirements
- Applications: File the FAFSA or California Dream Act Application and the Cal Grant GPA Verification Form by March 2, with no separate application
- Time limit: Coverage lasts four years for freshmen and two years for transfer students
- Award label: It won’t appear as “Blue and Gold” on an aid offer, since grants show up under the campus’s own grant name
How This Connects
UC’s $100,000 cutoff sits well below the thresholds at wealthy private universities. Harvard covers tuition for families earning under $200,000, and UChicago raised its free tuition threshold to $250,000.
Public universities tend to set lower bars, and Pitt’s new program covers Pennsylvania families earning under $75,000.
What’s Next
Families applying for fall 2027 need the 2027-28 FAFSA or Dream Act Application and the Cal Grant GPA form in by March 2, 2027 to be considered. Checking your Student Aid Index now gives a quick read on whether you’ll show financial need.
Editor: Colin Graves
The post UC Covers Tuition For California Families Earning Under $100,000 appeared first on The College Investor.
Which Global Real Estate ETF Is the Better Buy: State Street’s RWO or Xtrackers’ HAUZ?
The primary distinction between State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF (RWO +0.52%) and Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF (HAUZ +0.76%) lies in their geographic mandates and cost structures.
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) offer a way to gain property exposure without the burden of managing physical buildings. These two funds approach the asset class differently: one provides a broad look across the entire globe, while the other specifically targets markets outside the U.S. to help investors diversify away from domestic concentrations and capture international growth.
RWO & HAUZ: Performance Comparison
Key Financial Metrics
RWO – SPDR Index Shares Funds – State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF
$46.28
+0.52% (+$0.24)
HAUZ – Dbx ETF Trust – Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF
$21.07
+0.76% (+$0.16)
52wk Range
$44.31 – $52.26
Dividend & Yield
$1.63 (3.52%)
52wk Range
$20.71 – $25.73
Dividend & Yield
$0.82 (3.88%)
RWO – SPDR Index Shares Funds – State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF
$46.28
+0.52% (+$0.24)
52wk Range
$44.31 – $52.26
Dividend & Yield
$1.63 (3.52%)
HAUZ – Dbx ETF Trust – Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF
$21.07
+0.76% (+$0.16)
52wk Range
$20.71 – $25.73
Dividend & Yield
$0.82 (3.88%)
Snapshot (cost & size)
| Metric | HAUZ | RWO |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | Xtrackers | SPDR |
| Share price | $21.38 (as of 2026-09-28) | $47.08 (as of 2026-09-28) |
| Expense ratio | 0.1% | 0.5% |
| 1-yr return (as of 2026-09-28) | (5.3%) | 7.6% |
| Dividend yield | 3.9% | 3.5% |
| Beta | 0.74 | 0.89 |
| AUM | $1.0B | $1.2B |
Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from monthly returns over the available fund history (up to five years). The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.
The Xtrackers fund is significantly more affordable, carrying an expense ratio of 0.1% compared to 0.5% for the SPDR fund. While the Xtrackers fund provides a slightly higher payout for income-seeking investors, the yield gap between the two is relatively narrow at 0.37 percentage points.
Performance & risk comparison
| Metric | HAUZ | RWO |
|---|---|---|
| Max drawdown (5 yr) | (33.6%) | (32.9%) |
| Growth of $1,000 over 5 years (total return) | $920 | $1,092 |
What’s inside
State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF targets publicly traded real estate companies that own and manage commercial or residential properties. The portfolio leans heavily toward real estate at 90%, with cash and others at 7%, and consumer cyclicals at 1%. Its largest positions include Welltower (WELL +1.09%) at 10.34%, Prologis (PLD +0.15%) at 7.75%, and Equinix (EQIX +1.47%) at 6.15%. Launched in 2008, the fund manages 224 holdings and carries $1.2 billion in assets under management (AUM). State Street SPDR Dow Jones Global Real Estate ETF has paid $1.63 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$47.08 share price works out to a 3.5% yield.
Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF seeks to track developed and emerging markets excluding the U.S., offering a diverse mix of 410 holdings to help investors diversify away from domestic property exposure. The fund is concentrated almost exclusively in real estate at 96%, with industrials and communication services each representing 1%. Top holdings include Goodman Group (ASX:GMG) at 4.20%, Mitsubishi Estate at 3.11%, and Mitsui Fudosan (TSE:8801) at 2.84%. Launched in 2013, it provides a low-cost entry into international property sectors and manages $1.0 billion in AUM. Xtrackers International Real Estate ETF has paid $0.82 per share over the trailing 12 months, which on its recent ~$21.38 share price works out to a 3.9% yield.
For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.
Which looks like the better buy
Real estate has bounced back in 2026 as interest rates ease and income-seeking investors return to property markets. Both RWO and HAUZ offer a way into that recovery, but they are not fishing in the same waters.
RWO markets itself as a global real estate fund, but more than half of its portfolio is U.S. real estate, consisting of the same domestic REITs that most American investors already own through broader funds. If you’re looking to truly diversify beyond U.S. property markets, that overlap raises a practical question about what you are actually adding.
HAUZ invests entirely outside the United States, holding more than 400 real estate companies across Japan, Australia, Europe, and beyond. That focus on international markets gives it a much different return profile from funds concentrated in domestic REITs.
RWO charges quite a high fee that can be difficult to justify when HAUZ has delivered comparable long-term returns and maximum drawdown. For most long-term investors who want actual international real estate diversification at the lowest possible cost, HAUZ is the more purposeful and efficient choice. RWO makes more sense only for those who want a single fund covering both U.S. and international property in one package and are comfortable paying significantly more for that convenience.
Home prices resist the pressure of high rates and weak sales
Sellers with substantial equity have largely declined to cut prices enough to revive buyer participation at scale, so recorded sale prices in closed transactions have held firmer than underlying demand conditions might suggest.
A divided housing market beneath the headline
The markets forecast to see the strongest price growth are concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. Rockford, IL leads the 324-MSA forecast at 4.7% projected appreciation, followed by Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT (4.3%), and Hartford, CT; Racine, WI; and Erie, PA (each at 4.0%).
Binghamton, NY; Lancaster, PA; Milwaukee, WI; South Bend, IN; and Reading, PA complete the top ten, with gains ranging from 3.5% to 4.7%. These markets share favorable income-to-price dynamics and supply conditions that have not been overwhelmed by inventory growth.
Texas dominates the bottom of the forecast. Six of the ten weakest-performing markets are in the state — Corpus Christi at -1.1%, Tyler at -1.0%, Sherman-Denison at -0.9%, Austin at -0.9%, Houston at -0.7%, and San Antonio at -0.5%.
Stockton, CA (-1.0%), Boulder, CO (-0.5%), Colorado Springs, CO (-0.5%), and Tucson, AZ (-0.5%) also appear among the underperformers.
A Frozen-Pizza Icon Has Been Shelved, Ending a 60-Year Run
Celeste was once a staple in freezers nationwide. Now Conagra is ending the brand as it focuses on faster-growing, more profitable businesses, including Slim Jim and Healthy Choice.
[KY, TN, IL, IN, MO] CFSB $100 Checking Bonus, Direct Deposit Not Required
![[KY, TN, IL, IN, MO] CFSB $100 Checking Bonus, Direct Deposit Not Required](https://globalinvestmentstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/community-classic-100-1024x329-768x247.png "[KY, TN, IL, IN, MO] CFSB $100 Checking Bonus, Direct Deposit Not Required")
Offer at a glance
- Maximum bonus amount:
- Availability: We are only able to open Checking and Savings accounts for existing clients or applicants who live in KY, TN, IL, IN, MO
- Direct deposit required: No
- Additional requirements: 25 debit card transactions
- Hard/soft pull: Soft
- ChexSystems: Unknown
- Credit card funding: Unknown
- Monthly fees: None
- Early account termination fee: Unknown
- Household limit: None listed
- Expiration date: November 1, 2026
The Offer
Direct link to offer
- CFSB is offering a $100 bonus when you open a new Community Classic Checking account and complete the following requirements:
- Complete 25 debt card purchase transactions by November 30, 2026
The Fine Print
- : This $100 checking account incentive is only available for new accounts opened between October 1, 2026, through November 1, 2026.
- To qualify, the account holder must complete at least 25 debit card purchase transactions during the promotional period which is October 1, 2026 through November 30, 2026.
- The account must remain open and be in good standing when the incentive is paid. Qualifying incentives, the $100 deposit, will be credited to the account by December 31, 2026.
- All criteria must be met before receiving incentive.
- Limit to one new account per social security number.
- Additional terms and conditions may apply.
- All bank account bonuses are treated as income/interest and as such you have to pay taxes on them
Avoiding Fees
Monthly Fees
This account has no monthly fees to worry about
Early Account Termination Fee
I wasn’t able to find a fee schedule so unsure if there are any EATFs.
Our Verdict
Simple bonus, you can find some ideas for meeting debit card requirements here. The terms do say that the debit cards must be purchases though so keep that in mind. We will add this to our list of the best bank account bonuses.
Hat tip to reader Bockrr
Useful posts regarding bank bonuses:
How to Start Trading Crypto in 2026 – Beginner Guide
Want to start trading crypto in 2026?
Here are 3 simple steps.
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Can AI Help Investors Price Heat Risk into Company Valuations?
Machine learning is useful because heat damage is unlikely to follow one stable, linear relationship across companies. A small increase in temperature may have little effect until an operating threshold is reached. Beyond that point, heat can reduce productivity and equipment efficiency, increase cooling needs, or constrain production.
The effect can also differ widely across companies facing similar weather. An automated plant with modern cooling and greater operational flexibility may continue operating. A labor-intensive business with older equipment and greater worker exposure to heat may experience a sharp loss of output. Averaging the two can make the overall effect appear modest even when one company faces a material financial loss.
Machine learning can search for these threshold effects and differences across firms more effectively than a model built around one average relationship. A May 2026 working paper by Christian Breitung, Gerard Hoberg, and Sebastian Müller, “Machine Learning the Impact of Climate Change on Firms Worldwide,” illustrates how a machine-learning framework can capture those differences. Their models estimate how abnormal seasonal temperature and precipitation affect sales, efficiency, profitability, and costs, with effects varying widely across firms. The adverse effects are concentrated in more exposed industries, labor-intensive and older firms, and companies operating in less developed regions.
Investors therefore need what could be called a company’s “heat-response function”: an estimate of how production, costs, margins, and cash flow change once temperatures exceed thresholds that matter to its operations. Absent that relationship, investors do not have a valuation input.
Bond yields closely track diesel prices now, and Trump’s deal with Putin may be too little too late
Diesel prices have come off their all-time highs in recent weeks, but the key industrial fuel has already moved the needle across the economy and financial markets, making affordability a more potent issue in the midterm elections.
The national average for diesel is about $6.277 per gallon, according to AAA, down from its $6.528 high but still 71% above year-ago levels. By contrast, U.S. crude oil is up 56% from a year earlier as damage to refining capacity in the Middle East and Russia has produced a sharper crunch in fuel markets.
Because diesel is a critical input in manufacturing, agriculture and logistics, the recent price surge has been felt broadly. The latest consumer and producer price indexes showed jumps in transportation costs, while purchasing manager surveys signaled big spikes in prices businesses are paying.
“This is why products have been trading at double the price of crude during the past few months, something that has never happened before. Ultimately, diesel and gasoline drive inflation, not crude oil,” Amrita Sen, director of market intelligence and co-founder at Energy Aspects, wrote in the Financial Times on Wednesday.
And as higher fuel costs keep inflation forecasts elevated, markets are pricing in a more hawkish Federal Reserve that’s ready to hike rates further. Bond yields have risen in anticipation of tighter monetary policy, raising borrowing costs for consumers.
Crude prices had previously moved in tandem with prices for refined products and had long been a proxy for those costs, but that relationship has broken down, according to Sen.
“In fact, since May, 10-year US Treasury yields have correlated more closely with diesel prices than crude prices, for the first time ever,” she added.
That’s why the Trump administration has started paying more attention lately to bringing down diesel prices, Sen said.
Over the past week alone, President Donald Trump has taken steps to ease the cost burden. On Monday, he signed an executive order to defer the 24-cent federal tax per gallon on diesel until the end of the year, though most states have separate levies on diesel.
And on Friday, he said he reached a deal with Vladimir Putin to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal from years of U.S. pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia will supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel now, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter,” according to Trump. Russia will deliver another 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that.
The surprise announcement was more shocking considering that Trump signed a sweeping sanctions law last month that imposes steep tariffs on the top buyers of Russian energy.
Frederic J. BROWN / AFP via Getty Images
But Trump’s efforts to lower diesels costs are unlikely to improve affordability significantly.
Farmers and truckers have said his executive order on the diesel tax will offer little relief, especially given that per-gallon prices are $2.60 higher than a year ago while the federal tax is just 24 cents a gallon. Similarly, energy experts said the deal for Russian diesel is also unlikely to make much of a dent.
“It’s kind of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic,” Michael Lynch, distinguished fellow at Energy Policy Research Foundation, told the Associated Press. “If we get diesel from Russia, basically it means that their existing customers are not going to get it and they’ll have to go somewhere else, and that will keep the price basically where it is now.”
And even if Trump somehow managed to end his Iran war or bring fuel prices down sharply, Republicans may not see a lift with voters in November.
According to a new Politico Poll, just 10% of undecided voters said they would be more likely to vote for a Republican if gas prices went down by $1 a gallon versus 29% who said it would have no impact and 57% who didn’t know.
The results were similar when asked about how an end to the Iran war and a sharp drop in inflation might affect their midterm choices.
“There’s nothing that Trump can do, and frankly, even if he did something, no one would believe it anyway at this point,” one GOP operative working on battleground races told Politico.
Pope Leo declares death penalty ‘inadmissible’ as his native US plans to livestream execution
Pope Leo XIV on Saturday declared capital punishment ”inadmissible” as he marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty and his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.
In a post on X, the American pope quoted the revised Catholic teaching on capital punishment ushered in by Pope Francis that the death penalty attacks the inherent dignity of a human being.
“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” read the post under Leo’s official handle, @Pontifex. “Effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.”
The post ended with the hashtag #NoDeathPenalty.
The U.S. Defense Department announced Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, convicted of a 2009 shooting at the Fort Hood military base, will be livestreamed. Hasan, scheduled to be executed at Fort Hood on Dec. 3, was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he would be making a decision ultimately on whether the execution would be livestreamed.
Leo didn’t refer specifically to the planned execution, or the botched lethal injection in Tennessee earlier that has revived debate over the death penalty in the United States. Saturday is World Day Against the Death Penalty, and it is common for the pope’s official social media accounts to post messages marking such commemorations.
But Leo’s post came just hours after his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said explicitly that the planned U.S. public execution was “unacceptable.”
Pope Francis declared capital punishment ‘inadmissible’
Pope Francis in 2018 amended official Catholic teaching to declare capital punishment “inadmissible” in all circumstances.
Previously, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the official compendium of church teaching, said the church didn’t exclude recourse to capital punishment “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”
Past popes had upheld that position, though St. John Paul II began urging an end to the practice and stressed that guilty people were just as deserving of dignity as innocent ones.
Like Francis before him, Leo has made visiting prisons a key part of his papal travel in a bid to give a message of hope to inmates and underscore their inherent dignity, that God loves them and that there is always a chance for redemption.
“If any of you fear being abandoned by everyone, know that God will never abandon you, and that the church will stand by your side,” Leo told inmates at the notorious Bata prison in Equatorial Guinea during his visit in April. Leo is to visit a prison in Buenos Aires during his upcoming tour through Latin America.
Speaking specifically about the United States, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the planned livestreamed execution was “truly incomprehensible” and “unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle.”
“The Church’s position is one of total opposition to the death penalty; it is incompatible with human dignity and serves as no deterrent…,” Parolin said in comments carried by Vatican News. “It is truly incomprehensible that anyone would want to use this system today — I don’t know for what purpose. It is certainly unacceptable to turn death into a spectacle; even if the person is guilty, of course, there are other methods.”
The head of the U.S. bishops conference, Archbishop Paul Coakley, expressed “shock” and “great sorrow” at the Pentagon’s plans.
“In no way can Hasan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” he said in a statement Friday. “The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.”