BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 200
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
200 (Alejo and Jones-Sawyer)
As Amended May 28, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+------------------|
|Higher |12-0 |Medina, Baker, Bloom, | |
|Education | |Chávez, Harper, Irwin, | |
| | |Levine, Linder, Low, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Williams | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+-----------------------+------------------|
|Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, Daly, | |
| | |Eggman, Gallagher, | |
| | |Eduardo Garcia, | |
| | |Gordon, Holden, Jones, | |
| | |Quirk, Rendon, Wagner, | |
| | |Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Establishes the number of Competitive Cal Grant A and B
awards to be 22,500 for the 2015-16 academic year, 50,000 for the
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2016-17 academic year, 60,000 for the 2017-18 academic year and
each year thereafter.
EXISTING LAW: Establishes the Cal Grant program awards to provide
tuition and access cost assistance to eligible students attending
qualified institutions. Students who are not eligible for
entitlement awards may compete for a Cal Grant A or B Competitive
award. The award benefits and eligibility requirements are the
same as the entitlement program, but awards are not guaranteed.
Annually, 22,500 Cal Grant Competitive awards are available. Of
these, 50% are for students who do not qualify for a Cal Grant
Entitlement award, but who otherwise meet the Cal Grant
requirements. The remaining awards are set aside for eligible
California Community College students. Maximum award amounts for
California State University and University of California are
established in the annual Budget Act and have traditionally
covered all systemwide tuition and fees. The maximum tuition
award for Cal Grant A and B for students attending private
for-profit colleges is $4,000 (commencing 2013-14), and for
students attending non-profit or Western Association of Schools
and Colleges-accredited for-profit institutions is $8,056
(commencing 2015-16).
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, based on current average award amounts and the
distribution of awards to students at each of the public
postsecondary segments and students at non-public institutions,
General Fund costs would be around $70 million in 2016-17, $150
million in 2017-18, $220 million in 2018-19, and $270 million in
2019-20 and thereafter.
COMMENTS: A student's ability to pay for college is a major
factor in enrollment and completion of a degree program;
significant unmet need results in students being less likely to
enroll and, once enrolled, low-income students are also less
likely to complete their degree program. Financial aid plays a
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vital role in increasing access, retention, and completion rates.
California has made a substantial commitment to affordability
through the Cal Grant Program; still, there is room for
improvement. Higher education affordability experts have
consistently encouraged an increase in the number of awards
provided in the Competitive Cal Grant Program.
As previously noted, the Cal Grant Entitlement Programs guarantee
awards to students who meet specified grade point average (GPA)
and income-related criteria and apply within deadlines. The
majority of Cal Grant recipients (211,300 in 2013-14) receive this
type of award. The majority of Cal Grant applicants, however, do
not qualify for an Entitlement award because they are more than a
year out of high school, decide to go to college after the
Entitlement application deadline, or do not meet age or other
requirements when they transfer.
Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards are available to middle and
low income applicants who did not receive an entitlement award.
Established in statute are minimum income/asset and academic
performance requirements; generally aligned with the Entitlement
requirements. However, because over 300,000 applicants compete
for only 22,500 awards annually, Competitive Program award
recipients must significantly exceed minimum requirements.
In 2012-13, California Student Aid Commission reported that the
typical Competitive Program award recipient was 31 years old, with
a GPA of 3.41, a family size of 3.1, and a household income of
$14,262. According to The Institute for College Access and
Success (TICAS), hundreds of thousands of Competitive Program
applicants meet eligibility requirements but are denied grants.
TICAS notes that denied Competitive Program applicants have an
average family income of less than $21,000, a family size of
three, and GPA of 2.9. TICAS calculates that in 2001-02, at the
inception of the Competitive Program, eligible applicants had a
one in four chance of receiving a Competitive Program award. By
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2014-15, the chances of a qualified applicant receiving a
Competitive Program award decreased to one in 17.
This bill proposes to increase the number of Competitive Program
awards from 22,500 for the 2015-16 academic year, to 60,000 by the
2017-18 academic year. According to supporters, this increase
will help California's neediest students take more classes, go to
school full-time, and ultimately complete their college degree in
a timely manner.
There is no opposition on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Laura Metune / HIGHER
ED. / (916) 319-3960
FN: 0000688