BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1961
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
1961 (Baker) - As Amended April 21, 2016
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|Policy |Higher Education |Vote:|12 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill:
1)Increases, from $8,056 to no less than $10,000, the maximum
Cal Grant award, for 2017-18 and thereafter, for private,
nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions.
2)Requires private, nonprofit postsecondary educational
institutions, as a condition for the funding of Cal Grants to
its students, to annually report specified student performance
metrics to the Association of Independent Colleges and
AB 1961
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Universities (AICCU), which must submit a cumulative report to
the Legislature, Governor, Department of Finance, and
Legislative Analyst's Office by March 15 of each year.
FISCAL EFFECT:
General Fund costs, for increase grant awards, of about $15
million in 2017-18, increasing to $50 million in 2020-21.
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. Under current law, the maximum Cal Grant
award amount, for students attending private non-profit
institutions or private for-profit WASC accredited institutions,
is set at $9,084 for 2015-16 and reduces to $8,056 beginning in
2017-18. 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% 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."
In addition, the reporting requirements in this bill mirror
reports provided by the California State University and the
University of California. AB 831 (Bonilla), which in part
included these same reporting requirements, was held on this
committee's Suspense file.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 1961
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