BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1721
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|Author: |Medina |
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|Version: |June 22, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 29, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program
SUMMARY
This bill increases the total number of competitive Cal Grant
awards authorized from 25,750 to 34,000, and expands the number
of these awards available to, and reserved for, community
college students.
BACKGROUND
Existing law authorizes the Cal Grant Program, administered by
the California Student Aid Commission, to provide grants to
financially needy students to attend college. 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, California residency, and
other eligibility criteria, as specified in Education Code §
69433.9.
(Education Code § 69430-69433.9)
Current law provides for the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement
programs. The
Cal Grant A High School Entitlement Program provides tuition fee
funding for the equivalent of four full-time years at qualifying
postsecondary institutions to eligible lower and middle income
high school graduates who have at least a 3.0 grade point
average (GPA) on a four-point scale and apply within one year of
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graduation.
(Education Code § 69434)
The Cal Grant B High School Entitlement Program provides funds
to eligible low-income high school graduates who have at least a
2.0 GPA on a four-point scale and apply within one year of
graduation. The award provides up to $1,551 for books and living
expenses for the first year and each year following for up to
four years (or equivalent of four full-time years). After the
first year, the award also provides tuition fee funding at
qualifying postsecondary institutions. Current law authorizes up
to 2 percent of new Cal Grant B recipients to be eligible for
payment of tuition or fees or both in their first academic year
of attendance. (Education Code § 69435.3)
Current law also establishes the Cal Grant Competitive Award
Program and, beginning in 2015-16, provides 25,750 Cal Grant A
and B awards to applicants who meet financial, academic, and
general program eligibility requirements. Half of these awards
are reserved for students enrolled at a community college and
who met the September 2 application deadline. (Education Code §
69437-§ 69437.7)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Beginning with the 2016-17 academic year, increases the
number of Competitive Cal Grant awards from 25,750 to
34,000.
2) Reserves 19,000 Competitive Cal Grant awards for California
Community Colleges (CCC) students with the remaining 15,000
available to all students, including community college
students.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, despite
comprising about 2/3 of the undergraduate higher education
population in California, community college students only
receive 6 percent of the resources distributed by Cal
Grants. At the same time, community college students are
more likely to be socio-economically disadvantaged,
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undocumented, retraining adults, or the first in their
family to attend college. In addition, once the total cost
of attendance and all available financial aid is taken into
account, it is often more expensive for a financially needy
student to attend a community college than a University of
California (UC) or California State University (CSU)
campus. This bill increases the number of competitive Cal
Grants and ensures access for the neediest students by
reserving 19,000 of these awards for CCC students.
2) Net effect? Existing law reserves half of the 25,750
authorized competitive Cal Grant awards for community
college students (12,875). Existing law also makes the
remaining awards eligible to all students, including
community college students. This bill would authorize an
additional 8,250 of these awards, 6,125 of which would be
reserved for community college students for a total of
19,000 awards. Community college students would also be
eligible for the additional 2,125 awards available to all
students.
3) Competitive Cal Grant program. According to an April 2013
report by The
Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS),
Strengthening Cal Grants to Better Serve Today's Students,
in 2010-11 the majority of Cal Grant recipients (72%)
received grants as a high school entitlement award, 5%
received transfer entitlement awards, and competitive
awards went to 18% of all Cal Grant recipients. According
to the TICAS report, many otherwise eligible applicants
miss the application deadline or enroll well after they
have graduated from high school, and these are particular
concerns for the lowest income students who miss timely
application because they are unaware of the financial aid
that is available. For these students the alternative would
be a Competitive Cal Grant.
Prior to the 2015-16 academic year, only 22,500 Competitive Cal
Grants were statutorily authorized annually. California Student
Aid Commission reports that in the 2014-15 award year, more than
300,000 qualified students applied for the Competitive Cal
Grant. The average GPA of these applicants was 2.92.
According to the California Student Aid Commission, Competitive
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Cal Grant applicants have an average family income of about
$21,666, a family size of three, and an average age of 27.
4) Funding? The 2015 Budget Act increased the number of
competitive Cal Grants that would d be funded from 22,500
to 25,750 beginning in the 2015-16 academic year. The 2016
Budget Act did not provide any funding for the increase in
competitive Cal Grants proposed by this bill.
SUPPORT
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
California Chamber of Commerce
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Student Aid Commission
Foothill-De Anza Community College District
Kern Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
San Diego Community College District
South Orange County Community College District
The Institute for College Access & Success
Western Association for College Admission Counseling
OPPOSITION
None received.
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