BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1961
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 1961
(Baker) - As Amended March 17, 2016
SUBJECT: Student financial aid:
Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program:
private nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions
SUMMARY: Increases the maximum amount of the Cal Grant program
for the 2017-18 award year and each award year thereafter for
private, nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions from
$8,056 to no less than $10,000.
EXISTING LAW: Authorizes the Cal Grant Program, administered by
CSAC, to provide grants to financially needy students to attend
college. The maximum grants for Cal Grant A and B awards, for
students attending University of California (UC) and California
State University (CSU) are equal to the amount of mandatory
systemwide fees at the respective segments. The maximum award
amount for students attending private institutions is set at
$4,000 for private for-profit institutions and for private
non-profit institutions or private for-profit WASC accredited
institutions, the amount is set at $9,084, and reduces to $8,056
beginning in 2017-18.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
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COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, "this
bill would bring more parity to Cal Grant students attending
private nonprofit universities with those at California's public
institutions. Also, stopping the 11.3 percent cut slated for
2017-18 will prevent further access limits to higher education
opportunities for California students at a time when public
colleges and universities are already admitting fewer
Californians. Increasing opportunities for higher education in
California will impact the growth of the state's economy by
improving workforce development.
Background on Cal Grant Program. According to the Public Policy
Institute of California (PPIC), more than half of all
postsecondary students in California receive grant or
scholarship aid. The primary sources of financial aid funding
are the federal government (43% in 2012), the state government
(23% in 2012) and institutional aid (27% in 2012).
State grant aid in California is provided primarily through the
Cal Grant Program and the CCC Board of Governors Fee Waiver
program. Cal Grant A awards cover full tuition and fees at UC
($12,192) or CSU ($5,472), up to $9,048 at private colleges
accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
(WASC), and up to $4,000 at other private colleges. Cal Grant B
awards provide additional grant aid up to $1,648 for very
low-income students to help pay for access costs. Cal Grant C
provides up to $2,462 in tuition and $547 for living expenses
for vocational students.
Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards 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 an Entitlement 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
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when they transfer. Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards are
available to applicants who did not receive an entitlement
award. In the Competitive program, over 300,000 applicants
compete annually for 22,500 awards.
Unmet need. According to The Institute for College Access and
Success (TICAS), the Cal Grant Program leaves the neediest
students underserved. Less than one quarter of the lowest
income aid applicants in California receives a Cal Grant and on
average lower income recipients are awarded smaller grants than
higher income recipients. TICAS notes that underrepresented
students are also less likely to receive grants, and their
grants tend to be smaller. The average student denied a Cal
Grant has an average family income of less than $21,000, a
family size of three, and a GPA of 2.9. The Committee may wish
to consider how the proposal contained in this bill, to increase
the maximum grant amount for students attending private
non-profit colleges, fits into overall higher education
affordability priorities.
Prior Legislation. AB 831 (Bonilla) of 2015, and 1318 (Bonilla)
of 2014 would have established a formula to determine the
amount of Cal Grant awards for students attending private
colleges based on the average General Fund subsidy the state
provides for financially needy students attending the University
of California and California State University. Additionally,
these bills would have required these institutions to report on
specified performance and outcome measures, consistent with
reporting requirements of CSU and UC. AB 831 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee and AB 1318 was held by the
author on the Senate Floor.
Accountability and reporting. As part of the 2013-14 Budget (AB
94, Committee on Budget, 2013), the Legislature requires the UC
and the CSU to annually report on specified performance measures
for the preceding academic year in order to inform budget and
policy decisions, and promote the effective and efficient use of
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available resources. These performance measures include data on
the number of transfer students, the number and proportion of
low-income students, graduation rates, transfer rates, degree
completions, costs per degree, the number of Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) degrees and other
measures.
This bill would expend additional public resources at nonprofit,
private WASC-accredited institutions through the Cal Grant
Program. AB 831 and AB 1318, which also proposed to increase
the maximum Cal Grant award for independent institutions,
required institutions to report on performance measures similar
to those contained in AB 94. The goal was to promote the
effective and efficient use of state financial funds.
Suggested amendments. The author and committee may wish to
consider amendments, consistent with the language included in AB
831, as approved by this committee in 2015, to require annual
reporting similar to that required of CSU and UC:
1)Require, as a condition for increased funding, a private
nonprofit postsecondary educational institution to submit
performance metrics to the Association of Independent
California Colleges and Universities (AICCU).
2)Require AICCU, in collaboration with the public higher
education segments, to determine a form and content for
consistent collection and reporting of required performance
metrics.
3)Require AICCU to provide performance metric data in a
cumulative report to the Legislature, Governor, Department of
Finance, and Legislative Analyst's Office on or before March
15, 2017 and each year thereafter.
4)Require the AICCU report to include all of the following data
with respect to each participating private nonprofit
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postsecondary educational institution:
a) The number of undergraduate students enrolled in that
institution and the percentage who are California
residents;
b) The number of graduate students enrolled in that
institution;
c) The number of transfer students from the California
Community Colleges (CCC) enrolled in that institution and
the percentage of undergraduate students of that
institution who are transfer students from the CCC;
d) The number of Pell Grant recipients enrolled in that
institution and the percentage of undergraduate students of
that institution who are Pell Grant recipients;
e) The number and percentage of Cal Grant recipients
enrolled in that institution and their ethnic composition
and the median amount of institutional aid provided to
them;
f) The four- and six-year graduation rates for freshman
entrants of that institution disaggregated by Pell and Cal
Grant recipients;
g) The two- and three-year graduation rates for transfer
students from the CCC disaggregated by Pell and Cal Grant
recipients;
h) The number of degrees awarded annually by the
institution in total and in each of the following
categories:
i) Undergraduate students who first enrolled in the
institution as freshmen;
ii) Undergraduate students who first enrolled in the
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institution as transfer students;
iii) Graduate students;
iv) Pell Grant recipients; and,
i) The number of degrees or credentials awarded in
health-related fields, teacher preparation, and the fields
of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Unclear grant amount. As drafted, the bill provides that the
Cal Grant award amount, as proposed, will be no less than
$10,000. Committee staff understands that the author's intent
is that this amount could be increased, but not decreased below
$10,000, in the annual Budget Act.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
California Chamber of Commerce
Opposition
None on File
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Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960