BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 2160
AUTHOR: Ting
AMENDED: June 18, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Kathleen
Chavira
SUBJECT : Cal Grant GPAs.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Student Aid Commission to
require electronic submission of the GPA of all 12th grade
students at public schools and charter schools, with
specified exceptions, deems all 12th grade students in a
California public school to be Cal Grant applicants for
this purpose, requires that parents be notified of such and
that pupils be provided an opportunity to opt out of such
designation by a school district or charter school.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires GPAs for Cal Grant A and B applicants
to be submitted to CSAC; requires GPAs to include a
certification by a school official that the GPA is
accurately reported; authorizes CSAC to establish grace
periods for the receipt of GPAs and corrections; and,
establishes Legislative intent that high schools and
institutions of higher education certify GPAs of students
in time to meet Cal Grant application deadlines. (EDC §
69432)
A school district is prohibited from permitting access to
pupil records without written parental consent but makes
some exceptions, as specified. Current law authorizes
school districts to release information from pupil records
to agencies or organizations in connection with the
application of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid.
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However, information permitting the personal identification
of a pupil or his or her parents may be disclosed only as
may be necessary for purposes as to determine the
eligibility of the pupil for financial aid, to determine
the amount of the financial aid, to determine the
conditions that will be imposed regarding the financial
aid, or to enforce the terms or conditions of the financial
aid. (EDC § 49076)
The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) regulations authorize an educational agency or
institution to disclose personally identifiable information
from an education record of a student without consent if
the disclosure meets one of several specified conditions.
These include an instance in which the disclosure is in
connection with financial aid for which the student has
applied or which the student has received, if the
information is necessary to:
a) Determine eligibility for the aid;
b) Determine the amount of the aid;
c) Determine the conditions for the aid; or
d) Enforce the terms and conditions of the aid. (34
CFR 99.31(a)(4)
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Deems each student enrolled in 12th grade in a
California public school to be a Cal Grant applicant.
2) Requires every school district, or charter school, by
October 15 annually, to:
a) Notify the parent/guardian of each
12th grade student that the student will be
deemed a Cal Grant applicant.
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b) Provide an opportunity for the
student to opt out of being automatically deemed
a Cal Grant applicant.
3) Requires that the California Student Aid Commission
require electronic submission of a grade point average
(GPA) for each 12th grade student at public schools,
including charter schools, each academic year.
4) Provides for an exception to the electronic submission
of GPA requirements for:
a) Students who have opted out.
b) Students permitted, at the
discretion of the CSAC to submit a GPA in a
nonelectronic format or to provide tests scores
in lieu of a GPA.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, while
some districts already provide GPAs to CSAC for all or
some students, many do not. The author notes that Los
Angeles and San Francisco unified school districts are
already providing GPAs for all high school seniors to
CSAC and, according to the author, report that costs
for computer programming are minor and absorbable and
districts experienced an overall cost savings
associated with high school counselors no longer being
required to complete paper forms for students. The
author also notes that CSAC reported processing over
70,000 paper GPA forms in 2013, taking significant
staff time. The author believes that overall cost
savings associated with this bill could result in more
time for high school counselors and CSAC to outreach
to students encouraging Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) completion. Without legislation,
the author argues "it would take several years for all
school districts to implement the best practice in
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this bill."
2) Education Trust-West Report . In 2013 the Education
Trust-West issued its report The Cost of Opportunity
which found that only 54% of California's 12th graders
completed a FAFSA in 2012, and only 50% completed the
both the FAFSA and submitted a GPA verification, both
steps necessary to apply for a Cal Grant by the March
2nd deadline. In 2014, a follow up Equity Alert
entitled Doorways to College Aid: Boosting Access to
Financial Aid in California found that in 2013 the
rates of completion of the FAFSA and Cal Grant
applications increased statewide by 7% and 8%
respectively for a total of 25,000 additional FAFSA
completions and more than 30,000 additional Cal Grant
applications. However, 42% (170,000) of 12th graders
from the class of 2013 still did not complete a Cal
Grant application.
The report notes the higher completion rates were the
results of efforts at the local level which include an
early focus on FAFSA completion and the electronic
submission of GPAs for all students. An analysis of
districts using electronic GPA found a 10 percent
boost in Cal Grant Completion for those districts.
The average Cal Grant completion rate for these
districts was 71 percent, compared to 56 percent for
other districts. The report also noted that some
districts are hesitant to adopt this practice due to
privacy concerns.
Among other things, the report recommended that all
high schools and districts should electronically
submit GPA and graduation verification for all high
school seniors. This bill implements this
recommendation.
3) Privacy rights . The federal Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) applies to all schools that
receive federal funding through the U.S. Department of
Education and protects the privacy of student
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educational records. Generally, schools must have
written permission from the parent or eligible student
in order to release any information from a student's
educational record. However, schools are authorized
to disclose records without consent to specific
parties or under specific conditions, including to
appropriate parties in connection with financial aid
to a student. This exemption is currently used to
authorize the provision of student GPAs to CSAC when a
student is applying for financial aid.
This bill deems all 12 graders to be Cal Grant
applicants, but, in essence would require districts to
disclose the GPAs of students who are not necessarily
applying, and may never apply, for financial aid.
Although this bill was amended in the Assembly
Education Committee to require the written permission
of parents or guardians prior to submitting the GPAs
of students who are not seeking financial aid, it was
recently amended to
replace that requirement with an "opt out" provision
for students.
Notwithstanding the laudable intentions of the bill,
to broaden access to the Cal Grant program, the
Committee may wish to consider whether the provision
of an "opt out" alternative sufficiently assures the
privacy of students and families who might choose not
to participate in a state financial aid program.
SUPPORT
Association of Independent California Colleges and
Universities
California Association of School Business Officials
California School Boards Association
California State Student Association
California State University
San Francisco Unified School District
The Education Trust West
University of California
University of California Student Association
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OPPOSITION
None received.