BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2056


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          Date of Hearing:  April 19, 2016


                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION


                                 Jose Medina, Chair


          AB 2056  
          (Eduardo Garcia) - As Amended March 28, 2016


          SUBJECT:  Cal Grant Program:  graduation verification


          SUMMARY:  Requires, for the purposes of the Cal Grant Awards  
          Program, the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) to allow a  
          school district to electronically submit high school graduation  
          verification for former grade 12 students as many times as  
          necessary to ensure information is transmitted and received, and  
          requires high schools to verify graduation by October 1 of the  
          academic year immediately following the students graduation.    


          EXISTING LAW:  Authorizes CSAC to require verification of high  
          school graduation or equivalent to be submitted electronically  
          for all grade 12 pupils who graduated from public schools in the  
          prior academic year, except for pupils that have opted out.   
          Establishes legislative intent that high schools verify  
          graduation of their pupils in time to meet the applicable  
          deadline (December 31 of the academic year immediately following  
          the date of application).  


          FISCAL EFFECT:  Unknown. 


          COMMENTS:  To apply for a Cal Grant award, students (or parents  








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          of dependent students) are required to:  (1) complete and submit  
          the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); and, (2)  
          file a verified GPA with CSAC.  In 2013, the Education  
          Trust-West (ETW) issued a report finding that only 54% of  
          California's 12th graders completed a FAFSA in 2012, and only  
          50% completed both steps of the requirements to apply for a Cal  
          Grant by the March 2nd deadline.  ETW found that one high-impact  
          practice to encourage financial aid applications employed by  
          districts is to submit GPAs electronically for all students.   
          ETW research indicates that districts that piloted using  
          electronic GPA verification and other data-driven practices  
          found a 15% increase in Cal Grant completion.  In 2014, AB 2160  
          (Ting), Chapter 679, required all high schools to submit a GPA  
          for all high school seniors to CSAC electronically (electronic  
          submission occurs through the CSAC WebGrants system).  


          Building upon the foundation of AB 2160, last year AB 1091  
          (Garcia), Chapter 637, Statutes of 2015, authorized CSAC to  
          require electronic submission of graduation verification data  
          (an eligibility condition of Cal Grant) for students and  
          established legislative intent that high schools verify  
          graduation of their pupils in time to meet the applicable  
          deadline.  The bill further established legislative intent that  
          CSAC provide to high schools and school districts a list of all  
          high school pupils who have not completed a FAFSA or Dream Act  
          application.  





          According to the author, it is not currently a statutory  
          requirement for school districts to verify high school  
          graduation on behalf of their students.  This bill is intended  
          to ensure that school districts understand their responsibility  
          to verify high school graduation.  This bill is intended to  
          provide another step forward to removing barriers for students  
          and helping students qualify and access financial aid. 








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          According to CSAC, current practice allows a high school to  
          resubmit graduation verification information as many times as  
          necessary to ensure CSAC is in receipt of this data.  This  
          portion is consistent with current CSAC operations.  The change  
          to require high schools to submit graduation verification data  
          by October 1 of the academic year is intended to provide  
          guidance to school districts; the current due date is December  
          31 of the year following high school graduation.  


          Suggested amendments.  Consistent with the author's intent,  
          committee staff recommends the following amendments:





            (b)  If the commission requires verification of high school  
            graduation or its equivalent pursuant to paragraph (1), then  
             both of the following shall occur:

            (1) The commission shall allow a school district to submit  
            the verification as many times as necessary to ensure that  
            each pupil's graduation information is transmitted and  
            received.
             
             (2)   the commission should provide guidance to   H   h  igh schools  
            or high school districts  shall   to ensure that high schools  
            and high school districts verify the graduation  of their  
            pupils  as soon as possible upon a pupils graduation,  
            including for pupils' whom graduate during the summer  
            following the grade 12 academic year, and  no later than  
             October 1   August 31  of the academic year immediately  
            following the pupils' graduation.








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          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:





          Support





          None on File




          Opposition


          None on File




          Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960




















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