BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1449|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1449
Author: Lopez (D)
Amended: 8/18/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/29/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-1, 1/25/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Student financial aid: California Community College
Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill, beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year,
exempts a student from the high school graduation requirement of
the California Community College (CCC) Transfer Cal Grant
Entitlement Program, as long as the student was a California
resident on his or her 18th birthday.
Senate Amendments of 8/18/16 include double-jointing provisions
to avoid chaptering problems with AB 1314 (Block).
ANALYSIS:
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Existing law:
1)Authorizes the Cal Grant program, administered by the
California Student Aid Commission (Commission), to provide
grants to financially needy students 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
programs, and eligibility is based upon financial need, grade
point average (GPA), California residency and other criteria.
(Education Code § 69430-69433)
2)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 CCC GPA of 2.4. (EC §
69436)
3)Requires the Commission, or a qualifying institution to
require that applicant to affirm, in writing, under penalty of
perjury, that he or she meets the requirements for Cal Grant
eligibility and notify each person who receives a preliminary
award that his or her award is subject to an audit. (EC §
69436 (d)(3)(A))
4)Requires the Commission to select, at random, a minimum of 10
percent of the new and renewal awards and require, prior to
the disbursement of Cal Grant funds to the affected
postsecondary institution, that the institution verify that
the recipient meets specified requirements. (EC § 69436
(d)(3)(B))
This bill:
1)Beginning with the 2017-2018 academic year, exempts a student
from the high school graduation requirement of the CCC
Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Program, as long as the student
was a California resident on his or her 18th birthday.
2)Includes double-jointing provisions to avoid chaptering
AB 1449
Page 3
problems with AB 1314 (Block).
Comments
1)Need for the bill. Under the current Transfer Entitlement
requirements, a student must graduate from a California high
school or equivalent to qualify for an award payment.
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.
2)California Community College Transfer Entitlement Program. The
CCC Transfer Entitlement Program extends the guarantee of Cal
Grant eligibility to financially needy students that start at
a community college and transfer to a four-year university,
similar to the guarantee provided to high school students
entering directly into four year college or university. This
award covers tuition at CSU and the UC, as well as tuition
support at qualified private California colleges and
universities. Transfer Entitlement Award applicants must meet
certain requirements at the time of transfer from a CCC to a
qualifying institution offering baccalaureate degree programs.
A CCC transfer student by nature must demonstrate an ability
to complete college course work, and perform at a level
sufficient to gain admission to a 4-year institution. For
those students who did not graduate from high school, this
bill provides a new education benefit that otherwise would not
have been available.
3)Verification of California residency status. A student must
be a California resident on his or her 18th birthday to
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qualify for an award under the provisions of this bill.
Current transfer students are required to complete a
certification form (G6) that includes information on high
school attendance and graduation, CCC attendance, and
California residency. The form serves as the final piece of a
completed Transfer Entitlement application. According to the
California Student Aid Commission, the "resident at 18"
requirement would be added to the form, and go through similar
verification as is other information that is required to
establish eligibility including being subject to an audit.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriation Committee:
According to the 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 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.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-1, 1/25/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta,
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Page 5
Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NOES: Travis Allen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dababneh, Beth Gaines, Eduardo Garcia,
Melendez
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/19/16 18:44:30
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