BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 2056 (Eduardo Garcia) - Cal Grant Program: graduation
verification
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|Version: April 21, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill requires the California Student Aid
Commission (Commission), if it requires the verification of high
school graduation to be submitted electronically-as permitted
under current law, for purposes of meeting the eligibility
requirements for a Cal Grant award, to provide guidance to
school districts so that the verification of graduation is
submitted as soon as possible but no later than August 31st, as
specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
To the extent this bill results in more Cal Grant awards being
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paid to students, this bill could result in potentially
significant costs to the state. (General Fund)
Local cost pressure for high schools or high school districts
to verify the graduation of their students as soon as possible
upon a student's graduation, but no later than August 31 of
the academic year following the student's graduation. These
costs are not reimbursable under state mandate law as this
deadline is provided to school districts as guidance from the
Commission and therefore not a state mandated requirement.
Minor costs to the Commission to provide required guidance.
Background: Graduation from a California high school, among other things,
is required for a Cal Grant award. This requirement needs to be
verified, before an award is paid and late submission could
delay payment of the award. The California Community Colleges
Chancellor's Office, in a support letter states, the
verification of graduation for many students who attend summer
school in order to meet high graduation requirements, is either
never received by the Commission or it is submitted after the
Cal Grant application deadline resulting in delays of Cal Grant
award payments. This bill seeks to ensure that all high school
graduates are reported to the Commission resulting in timely Cal
Grant award payments.
The variation in the graduation submission process could
unintentionally exclude students who need to be verified soon
after graduation. Under current law the Commission may require
verification of high school graduation to be submitted
electronically. This bill goes further by requiring the
Commission to provide guidance to schools and school districts
so as to ensure students' are verified as soon as possible but
no later than August 31. This process may provide clarity and
potentially reduce late Cal Grant award payments.
To apply for a Cal Grant award, students (or parents of
dependent students) are required to complete and submit the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and file a verified
GPA with CSAC. 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). Last year, AB 1091 (Garcia), Chapter
637, Statutes of 2015, authorized CSAC to require electronic
submission of students' graduation verification data (an
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eligibility condition of Cal Grant) and established legislative
intent that high schools verify graduation of their pupils in
time to meet the applicable deadline. This bill is intended to
ensure that school districts understand their responsibility to
verify high school graduation, and do so by August 31, including
verification for those high school students who have to attend
summer school in order to fulfill their graduation requirements.
Proposed Law:
This bill requires that if the Commission requires
verification of high school graduation or its equivalent, it is
required to provide guidance to high schools or high school
districts to ensure that they verify the graduation of their
students as soon as possible upon a student's graduation and no
later than August 31 of the academic year following the
student's graduation. This deadline also applies to students
who graduate during the summer following the 12th grade academic
year.
Staff
Comments: According to the Commission, this bill will primarily
affect California Community College students as most other
schools verify graduation as a condition of admission. If this
bill resulted in a more efficient verification process for high
school graduation, as intended, and resulted in fewer students
having to manually provide follow up information to the
Commission, it is possible that additional grants could be paid
out to students who would have otherwise not followed-up. If
for example about 30 more students were awarded a Cal Grant B
access award of $1,656 to help pay for books and other community
college costs in their first year of college, this would result
costs of about $50,000.
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