BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1721
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1721
(Medina) - As Introduced January 28, 2016
SUBJECT: Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program
SUMMARY: Makes various changes to expand the Cal Grant Program
with the intent to provide additional financial aid resources to
California Community College (CCC) students. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Increases the Cal Grant B access award, which can be used by
students for tuition, student fees, and access costs from, as
authorized in statute, $1,551 to $3,000. This amount would
continue to be authorized to be adjusted in the annual Budget
Act (currently established in the Budget Act at $1,648).
2)Extends, for the California Community College (CCC) Transfer
Entitlement Program (Transfer Entitlement), the age limitation
for a qualified awardee from 28 to 31 years of age.
3)Extends, for the CCC Transfer Entitlement, the required
transfer period from requiring that a qualifying awardee have
attended a CCC in the academic year immediately preceding the
award year to requiring attendance no more than three academic
years before the award year.
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4)Increases the number of Competitive Cal Grant awards from
25,750 to 30,000.
EXISTING LAW:
1)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:
a) Cal Grant A Entitlement Awards. Students that meet
income, asset and other eligibility requirements, have at
least a 3.0 grade point average, and apply either the year
they graduate from high school or the following year are
entitled to an award that provides coverage for tuition and
fees.
b) Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards. Students that meet
income and asset (lower thresholds than Cal Grant A) and
other eligibility requirements, have at least a 2.0 GPA and
apply either the year they graduate from high school or the
following year are entitled to a living allowance and
tuition and fee assistance. Awards for first-year students
are limited to an allowance for books and living expenses.
In the second and subsequent years, the award provides
tuition and fee support.
c) CCC Transfer Entitlement Awards. Cal Grant A and B
awards are guaranteed 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.
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d) Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards. 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, 25,750
Cal Grant Competitive awards are available. Of these, 50
percent 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 CCC students.
e) Cal Grant C Awards. Students attending qualifying
occupational, technical, and vocational programs are
eligible for up to $547 for books and equipment and $2,462
for tuition and fees.
2)Maximum award amounts for CSU and UC 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 WASC-accredited for-profit
institutions is $8,056 (commencing 2015-16). CCC students do
not receive a Cal Grant tuition award as the Board of
Governors (BOG) Fee Waiver program fully covers enrollment
fees (but not other costs of attendance) for financially needy
students.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, "to
remain economically competitive, California will need to produce
2.4 million more degrees by 2025 than the state is currently on
track to produce. Overall, only 32% of students at California
colleges and universities complete credentials on time, and
low-income students are much less likely than higher income
students to enroll in or complete college. A major factor in a
student's enrollment and success in college is his or her
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ability to pay for fees and tuition, textbooks, transportation,
housing, food, and other access costs. California has made an
important investment in need-based financial aid through the Cal
Grant Program and the BOG Fee Waiver program, but despite this
commitment, access grants for qualifying students are
insufficient to cover non-tuition college costs, and many
low-income students are left out of the program entirely. The
author notes that, after taking into account the total cost of
attendance and all available financial aid, on average it is
more expensive for a needy student to go to a CCC than to attend
the UC or CSU. This bill aims to renew California's commitment
to CCC affordability by making important changes to the Cal
Grant program to better assist CCC students."
Increasing the Cal Grant B Access Award amount. The Cal Grant B
program began as the "College Opportunity Grant" (COG) in the
late 1960s. At that time policymakers acknowledged that the
lowest income students needed assistance with other college
costs, such as living expenses, textbooks, and supplies. In
1969-70, the first stipend was set at $900. The stipend was
approximately 20% of the indirect costs in 1989-90, as
determined by CSAC. Since that time it has declined in relative
terms; for 2015-16 the Cal Grant B Access Award is $1,656, one
quarter of what the original award would be worth had it kept
pace with inflation. This bill would increase the award amount
to $3,000.
Expanding the Transfer Entitlement Program. The Transfer
Entitlement provides financially needy California students whom
did not receive a Cal Grant A or B award after leaving high
school with a "second chance" to receive an award upon transfer
to a qualifying institution. According to information provided
by CSAC, an estimated 60,000 to 75,000 transfer students could
benefit from a Transfer Entitlement; approximately 17,800 award
offers are made annually. CSAC indicates that the remaining
students may be disqualified for a variety of reasons. This
bill addresses two possible causes of underutilization in the
Transfer Entitlement:
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1)Age limitation. According to CSAC, increasing the age
limitation from 28 to 31, as is proposed in this bill, would
bring in an additional 23,600 students, and estimated 16,500
additional awards to the Transfer Entitlement.
2)Gap years. In 2012, the education budget trailer bill added a
requirement to the Transfer Entitlement that students had to
attend a CCC in the academic year immediately preceding the
award year. This bill would provide for up to three "gap
years" for Transfer Entitlement students. According to CSAC,
in 2013-14 a one-year gap-year was authorized, resulting in an
additional 2,280 award offers.
Increasing the number of Competitive Cal Grant Awards. As
previously noted, the Cal Grant Entitlement Programs guarantee
awards to students who meet specified 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. Over 300,000 applicants compete
for only 25,750 awards annually; Competitive Program award
recipients must significantly exceed minimum requirements.
According to The Institute for College Access and Success
(TICAS), denied Competitive Program applicants have an average
family income of less than $21,000, a family size of three, and
GPA of 2.9. This bill proposes to increase the number of
Competitive Cal Grants from 25,750 to 30,000. According to
supporters, this increase will help California's neediest
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students take more classes, go to school full-time, and complete
their college degree.
Related legislation. This bill is part of a package of bills
introduced by Assembly Members to establish a CCC Promise
Program to ensure affordability and success for CCC students.
Other bills in the package include: AB 1583 (Medina), pending in
this Committee, which would expands the CCC Board of Governors
Fee Waiver Program to include specified categories of students,
and establish a need-based aid program to cover access costs for
CCC students; and, AB 1741 (Rodriguez), pending in this
Committee, to provide funds to CCC districts to implement
California Promise Partnerships between school districts,
California's public universities, and community stakeholders.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Board of Governors, California Community Colleges (Sponsor)
Community College League of California (Sponsor)
California Chamber of Commerce
California Community College Association of Student Trustees
California Competes
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California EDGE Coalition
California Immigrant Policy Center
California State Student Association
California State University
The Campaign for College Opportunity
Chabot-Las Positas Community College District
EARN
The Education Trust-West
Foothill-De Anza Community College District
The Institute for College Access & Success
Imperial Community College District
Kern Community College District
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
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Los Rios Community College District
MALDEF
NAACP Los Angeles
National Association of Social Workers-California Chapter
North Orange County Community College District
Peralta Community College District
Public Advocates Inc.
San Diego Community College District
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Monica College
South Orange County Community College District
Southern California College Access Network
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
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uAspire
Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees
Young Invincibles
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960