BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1361 (Burke) - Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program:
veterans
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: May 20, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: July 6, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill exempts current and former members of the
Armed Forces of the United States, as specified, from the age
cap to qualify for the CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement
Program, unless the member has received a dishonorable or bad
conduct discharge.
Fiscal
Impact:
Unknown, potentially significant costs depending on the number
of students that opt to postpone the use of their GI benefits
in order to receive a Cal Grant under the CCC Transfer Cal
Grant Entitlement Program. Because benefits under the GI bill
are greater than provided through the state's student
financial aid program, it is unlikely that many students will
choose to access this benefit. See staff comments.
AB 1361 (Burke) Page 1 of
?
Background: Existing law establishes the Cal Grant program, administered
by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), to provide
tuition and access cost assistance to eligible students
attending qualified institutions. The CCC Transfer Entitlement
Awards provide Cal Grant A and B awards to every student who
graduated from a California high school after June 30, 2000, was
a California resident at the time of high school graduation,
transferred to a qualifying baccalaureate-degree granting
institution from a CCC during the award year, was under the age
of 28 at the time of the transfer, had a minimum California
Community College grade point average (GPA) of 2.4, and met the
Cal Grant financial and eligibility requirements. (Education
Code § 69436)
The Transfer Entitlement award provides for full fees at CCC,
California State University (CSU) and the University of
California (UC), as well as tuition support at private
California colleges and universities. For veterans 28 years or
older, particularly for veteran students who have exhausted GI
bill eligibility, this bill would provide a new education
benefit that otherwise would not have been available.
Additionally, maximum award amounts for California State
University (CSU) and University of California (UC) are
established in the annual Budget Act and have traditionally
covered all system wide tuition and fees. The maximum tuition
award for Cal Grant A and B for students attending private
for-profit colleges is $4,000, and for students attending
non-profit or Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC)-accredited for-profit institutions is $9,084. (EC §
69432)
The federal GI Bill provides active-duty service members and
veterans a monthly tax-free benefit to be used for tuition,
books, fees, and living expenses while earning an undergraduate
or graduate degree, or attending trade school. The GI bill
could provide veteran students up to $20,000 (approximately) in
education benefits for the 2015-16 academic year.
The federal government is the last payer if the state offers an
equivalent tuition benefit to veterans. As such, this bill
specifies that a veteran cannot use both sources within the same
academic year. A student would need to choose when to use
either award in order to maximize the expanded benefit provided
AB 1361 (Burke) Page 2 of
?
by provisions in this bill.
Proposed Law:
This bill exempts current and former members of the Armed
Forces of the United States, as specified, from the age cap to
qualify for the CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program,
unless the member has received a dishonorable or bad conduct
discharge.
This bill also prohibits an institution from accepting award
funds through the CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program and
the veteran's GI Bill in the same award year for a current or
former member of the Armed Forces who is 28 years of age or
older.
Staff
Comments: This bill removes the age limit for a CCC Transfer
Entitlement Award for current and former members of the Armed
Forces of the United States. There are an estimated 6,255
veterans at the California State University (CSU) and 1,936 at
the University of California (UC) that are using their GI bill
benefits. However, it is unknown how many of these students
transferred from the CCCs, are 28 years old or older, or meet
the Cal Grant income and eligibility requirements. Those
eligible for Cal Grants would be fewer than the number of
students using their GI bill benefits, as Cal Grants are
need-based awards.
In addition, it is unknown how many of these students would be
motivated to take a Cal Grant award over using their GI bill
benefits as the latter provides a greater benefit. It is
conceivable that students may wish to use a Cal Grant award
instead of their GI bill benefits if they have plans to pursue
graduate school.
For illustrative purposes, assuming one-fourth of the number of
veteran students at UC and CSU represents the incoming freshman
class as well as those eligible for the CCC Transfer Cal Grant
Entitlement Program, and of these, one percent of students
choose to access this benefit, it is estimated that costs for
one year of additional Cal Grant A awards under this scenario
AB 1361 (Burke) Page 3 of
?
would amount to about $145,000. This estimate does not account
for students transferring to private postsecondary schools.
Staff notes, one of the conditions for CCC Transfer Cal Grant
Entitlement Program eligibility is that the student graduated
from a California high school or its equivalent during or after
the 2000-01 academic year. This provision appears to
effectively set another cap on age since individuals that
graduated high school in 2001 would likely be about 31 years
old. This bill would remove the age eligibility cap of 28 years
old and, because of the high school requirement, the result
could only expand the CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program
to students who are three years older. Under this scenario,
potential increased costs in the Cal Grant program would be
somewhat mitigated.
-- END --