BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1091
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Date of Hearing: April 28, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1091
(Eduardo Garcia) - As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program
SUMMARY: Requires the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)
to take specified actions to improve information sharing between
school districts and CSAC for purposes of determining student
Cal Grant eligibility. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CSAC to develop, and make available on its Internet
Web site to each school district, a graduation verification
template for use by the school district to input and upload
graduation verification data for its pupils, so that the
commission can determine if those pupils are eligible for Cal
Grants.
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2)Requires CSAC to, to the greatest extent feasible, align the
collection and reporting of information between the United
States Department of Education's Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) system, CSAC, and school districts that is
used to determine if applicants are eligible for Cal Grants
and whether to issue Cal Grant awards for students who attend
qualifying institutions.
3)Requires CSAC to develop, and make available on its Internet
Web site to each school district for the district's use, a
standard report that lists the names of all grade 12 pupils
within the school district who have and have not completed the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the California
Dream Act application.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires grade point averages (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. (Education Code Section 69432)
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2)Requires a GPA for all high school seniors at public schools
to be submitted to CSAC electronically by a school or school
district official and requires a school district to provide an
opportunity for a student and/or guardian to opt out and
requires students and/or guardians to be notified of the
opportunity to opt out. (EDC 96432.9)
3)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.
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)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Background. To apply for a Cal Grant award, students
(or parents of dependent students) are required, by March 2nd,
to: (1) complete and submit the FAFSA; and, (2) file a verified
GPA with CSAC. In 2013, the Education Trust-West (ETW) issued a
report finding that only 54% of California's 12th graders
completed a FAFSA in 2012, and only 50% completed both steps of
the requirements to apply for a Cal Grant by the March 2nd
deadline. ETW found that one high-impact practice to encourage
financial aid applications employed by districts is to submit
GPAs electronically for all students. ETW research indicates
that districts that piloted using electronic GPA verification
and other data-driven practices found a 15% increase in Cal
Grant completion. In 2014, AB 2160 (Ting), Chapter 679,
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required all high schools to submit a GPA for all high school
seniors to CSAC electronically (electronic submission occurs
through the CSAC WebGrants system).
WebGrants. WebGrants is CSAC's internet-based access for Cal
Grant applications. It provides high schools with the ability
to upload student GPAs and determine if a student has completed
a FAFSA, schools can also search and edit records, download CSAC
policy memos and bulletins, print School of Origin Reports, and
use other high school GPA collection tools. In addition to the
recently enacted requirement for high school pupil GPA data to
be uploaded electronically, according to the California
Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), currently all
community colleges are using WebGrants to upload GPAs for
students enrolled in the last two years. According to CSAC,
when a student for whom CSAC has received a GPA but not a FAFSA
is identified, CSAC provides a report to the schools. Ideally a
school is using that information to contact students to ensure
FAFSA completion.
Purpose of this bill. The author intends for this proposal to
build upon the foundation of AB 2160 by ensuring the following:
1)Authorizing CSAC to require electronic submission of
graduation verification data (an eligibility condition of Cal
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Grant) for students. According to CSAC, because of high
school campus closures following the end of the school year,
it is important that this information is submitted to CSAC
promptly to ensure that student awards are not delayed. It is
important to note that CSAC does authorize students to
self-certify high school graduation. This bill is not
intended to change the student self-certification process.
2)Establishing Legislative intent that CSAC provide to high
schools and school districts a list of all high school pupils
who have not completed a FAFSA or Dream Act application. The
goal of this provision is to support high schools and
districts in encouraging FAFSA/Dream Act completion.
Recommended amendments. Consistent with the author's intent,
Committee staff recommends removing the current language and
redrafting the provisions of this bill, as follows:
69432.9 (c)(2) The commission shall require that a grade point
average , and may require verification of high school graduation
or its equivalent, as required pursuant to section
69433.9(e)(3), be submitted to it electronically for all grade
12 pupils at public schools, including charter schools, each
academic year, except for pupils who have opted out as provided
in subdivision (d). Social security numbers shall not be
included in the information submitted to the commission.
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69432.9 (c)(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that high
schools or high school districts and institutions of higher
education certify the grade point averages and verify the
graduation of their students in time to meet the application
deadlines imposed by this chapter.
69432.9 (c)(7) It is the intent of the Legislature that the
commission make available to each high school and each school
district a report identifying all grade 12 pupils within the
high school or school district, respectively, who have and have
not completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or
the California Dream Act application.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Student Aid Commission
Opposition
AB 1091
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None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960