BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 1449 (Lopez) - Student financial aid: California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 20, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: No | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: This bill exempts a student from the high school graduation requirement of the California Community College (CCC) Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program, if the student was a California resident on his or her 18th birthday. Fiscal Impact: According to the California Student Aid Commission (Commission) costs are about $1.4 million in the first year, growing to $2.5 million General Fund by full implementation (the fourth year) and out years, to provide a CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement to students that would have otherwise been AB 1449 (Lopez) Page 1 of ? denied due to not fulfilling the high school graduation requirement. This estimate assumes 177 new recipients would be paid each year. Estimated one-time administrative costs of $183,000 General Fund to contract out to update applicable recipient forms and to update the grant delivery system to accommodate this change. Background: Existing law authorizes the Cal Grant program, administered by the Commission, to provide grants to students who have financial need to attend a college or university. The Cal Grant programs include both the entitlement and the competitive Cal Grant awards. The program consists of the Cal Grant A, Cal Grant B, and Cal Grant C and eligibility is based upon financial need, grade point average (GPA), California residency and other criteria. (Education Code § 69430-69433) Existing law also establishes the Transfer Entitlement, to 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, and had a minimum GPA of 2.4. (EC § 69436) According to the author, California has established an unnecessary barrier for nontraditional low-income transfer students by requiring Transfer Entitlement award recipients to possess a California high school diploma or equivalent. The author notes that CCCs are required to admit all California students over the age of 18 regardless of whether they have obtained a high school diploma or equivalency, and a high school diploma or equivalency is not a requirement for admittance at University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campuses if a student has satisfied requirements for upper-division transfer from a CCC. This bill seeks to allow returning students, who did not graduate high school, to earn a Cal Grant upon transferring to a 4-year college or university. AB 1449 (Lopez) Page 2 of ? Proposed Law: This bill exempts a student from the high school graduation requirement of the CCC Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program, if the student was a California resident on his or her 18th birthday. Related Legislation: AB 1721 (Medina, 2016) increases competitive Cal Grant awards by 8,250, bringing the total number of awards to 34,000, and expands the number of these awards available to, and reserved for, community college students. AB 1721 is pending in this committee. Staff Comments: There have been recent budget changes related to Cal Grant awards that impact CCC students. The Budget Act of 2015 provided an additional $8 million, growing to $23.4 million by 2018-19, to provide an increase of 3,250 competitive Cal Grant awards. This brings the total number of awards to 25,750. Half of the limited competitive Cal Grant awards available are set aside for students who apply by the March 2 deadline, and the other half are for CCC students who meet the September 2 application deadline. The Budget Act of 2015 also provided $39 million in ongoing Proposition 98 funds for purposes of the Full-Time Student Success Grant Program, to be distributed to students who are receiving the Cal Grant B Access Award and are taking 12 units or more, to assist community college students with their living costs. The Budget Act of 2016 provides $41 million for this program which also includes CCC students who are receiving Cal Grant C awards. The award is prohibited from exceeding $600 per student annually. Recommended Amendments: Staff recommends setting an implementation date for the 2017-18 award year so as to not require mid-year award adjustments if this bill were to be enacted. AB 1449 (Lopez) Page 3 of ? -- END --