Amended in Assembly March 30, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2506


Introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond

February 19, 2016


An act to add Section 69518.5 to the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2506, as amended, Thurmond. Student financial aid: Chafeebegin delete grants.end deletebegin insert grant awards.end insert

Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the state agency primarily responsible for the administration and coordination of student financial aid programs at California postsecondary educational institutions. Existing federal law establishes the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program for the purposes of providing financial aid to current and former foster youth who are attending qualifying postsecondary educational institutions.

This billbegin delete would specifyend deletebegin insert would, to the extent permitted by federal law, establishend insert the standards to be met by postsecondary educational institutions in order to be deemed to be qualifyingbegin delete institutions, to the fullest extent consistent with federal law,end deletebegin insert institutionsend insert in this state with respect to the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program. The bill wouldbegin delete require the commission to ensure that every current and former foster youth who files a timely application and is eligible for the award of a Chafee Educational and Training Voucher be issued those funds.end deletebegin insert provide that, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, a current or former foster youth is entitled to a Chafee grant award, and would require the commission to allocate that grant award, if the student meets specified criteriaend insertbegin insert.end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) There are 66,000 children and youth in California’s foster
4care system who have been removed from their biological families
5due to maltreatment and placed into the care and custody of the
6State of California.

7(b) (1) The Legislature recognizes the historic
8underrepresentation of foster youth in postsecondary programs
9and the need for equitable efforts that enhance the enrollment and
10retention of foster youth in public colleges and universities in
11California.

12(2) Current and former foster youth who attend college
13experience a low rate of persistence, transfer, and degree
14completion. Foster youth are 85 percent less likely to successfully
15complete 30 units or more anytime during community college as
16compared to the general student population.

17(3) Receipt of financial aid plays an important role in
18persistence, transfer, and degree completion. Fifty percent of foster
19youth who receive the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher
20complete three semesters or more of community college, as
21compared with 34 percent of foster youth who do not receive the
22Chafee Educational and Training Voucher.

23(4) Access to the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher is
24limited. One in four eligible applicants is not awarded a grant due
25to limited funding. Without improved access to financial aid, foster
26youth experience low educational attainment.

27(5) Low educational attainment is a factor in the poor adult
28outcomes experienced by youth in foster care. Compared to their
29same-age counterparts, former foster youth at 26 years of age are
30400 percent more likely to have been incarcerated and 300 percent
31more likely to be living below the federal poverty level.

32(c) The Legislature recognizes its responsibility to provide and
33adequately fund postsecondary programs and services for students
P3    1who are current and former foster youth attending public
2postsecondary institutions.

3(d) The Legislature recognizes the importance of quality
4education, and has taken action in the past to ensure financial aid
5is directed to postsecondary institutions at which the graduation
6rate and cohort default rate reflect a reasonable likelihood of
7student graduation and success.

8(e) Therefore, it is necessary and appropriate to take steps to
9encourage the enrollment, retention, and transfer of current and
10former foster youth in California’s public colleges and universities
11by ensuring that all foster youth who meet the eligibility criteria
12for the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher receive a grant.
13Providing academic support to current and former foster youth in
14California’s community colleges serves a significant governmental
15and public interest, namely the reduction in poverty and criminal
16justice involvement among youth who have been in foster care in
17California.

18

SEC. 2.  

Section 69518.5 is added to the Education Code, to
19read:

20

69518.5.  

(a) begin deleteThis section applies to end deletebegin insertTo the extent permitted
21by federal law, this section establishes end insert
the standards for
22postsecondary educational institutions to bebegin delete classified, to the fullest
23extent consistent with federal law,end delete
begin insert classifiedend insert as qualifying
24institutions in this state forbegin delete theend delete purposes of the Chafee Educational
25and Training Voucher program authorized by the federal Promoting
26Safe and Stable Families Amendments of 2001 (Public Law
27107-133).

28(b) The commission shall certify by October 1 of each year a
29postsecondary educational institution’s latest three-year cohort
30default rate and graduation rate as most recently reported by the
31United States Department of Education.

32(c) begin deleteThe end deletebegin insertIn accordance with subdivision (a), the end insertfollowing
33standards shall apply in determining an institution’s eligibility for
34the use of initial and renewal Chafee grant awards by itsbegin delete students,
35but only to the extent that these state standards are consistent with
36applicable federal law:end delete
begin insert students:end insert

37(1) An otherwise qualifying institution with a three-year cohort
38default rate that is equal to or greater than 15.5 percent, as certified
39by the commission on October 1, 2017, and on October 1 of any
P4    1year thereafter, shall be ineligible for the use of initial and renewal
2Chafee grant awards at the institution.

3(2) (A) An otherwise qualifying institution that becomes
4ineligible under this paragraph for initial and renewal Chafee grant
5awards may regain its eligibility for the academic year following
6an academic year in which it satisfies the requirements established
7in paragraph (1) or (4), as applicable.

8(B) If the United States Department of Education corrects or
9revises an institution’s three-year cohort default rate or graduation
10rate that originally failed to satisfy the requirements established
11in paragraph (1) or (4), as applicable, and the correction or revision
12results in the institution’s three-year cohort default rate or
13graduation rate satisfying those requirements, that institution shall
14immediately regain its eligibility for the academic year to which
15the corrected or revised three-year cohort default rate or graduation
16rate would have been applied.

17(3) An otherwise qualifying institution for which no three-year
18cohort default rate or graduation rate has been reported by the
19United States Department of Education shall be provisionally
20eligible for Chafee grant awards until a three-year cohort default
21rate or graduation rate has been reported for the institution by the
22United States Department of Education.

23(4) For purposes of the 2017-18 academic year, and every
24academic year thereafter, an otherwise qualifying institution with
25a graduation rate of 30 percent or less for students taking 150
26percent or less of the expected time to complete degree
27requirements, as reported by the United States Department of
28Education and as certified by the commission, shall be ineligible
29for the use of initial and renewal Chafee grant awards at the
30institution.

31(5) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of this
32subdivision do not apply to institutions with 40 percent or less of
33undergraduate students borrowing federal student loans, using
34information reported to the United States Department of Education
35for the academic year two years before the year in which the
36commission is certifying the three-year cohort default rate or
37graduation rate.

begin insert

38
(6) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of this
39subdivision do not apply to institutions where an eligible Chaffee
40grant recipient is attending an institution outside of California.

end insert
begin insert

P5    1
(7) Nothing in this section shall preclude an eligible Chafee
2grant recipient who chooses to attend an institution outside of
3California from using Chafee funds at that institution.

end insert

4(d) The commission shall do all of the following:

5(1) Notify initial recipients seeking to attend, or attending, an
6institution that is ineligible for initial and renewal Chafee grant
7awards under paragraph (1) or (4) of subdivision (c) that the
8institution is ineligible, under state standards, for the use of initial
9awards for the academic year for which the student received an
10initial award.

11(2) Notify renewal recipients attending an institution that is
12ineligible, under state standards, for initial and renewal Chafee
13grant awards at the institution under paragraph (1) or (4) of
14subdivision (c).

15(3) Provide initial and renewal Chafee grant recipients seeking
16to attend, or attending, an institution that is ineligible for initial
17and renewal Chafee grant awards at the institution under paragraph
18(1) or (4) of subdivision (c) with a complete list of all California
19postsecondary educational institutions at which the student would
20be eligible, under state standards, to receive an unreduced Chafee
21grant award.

begin delete

22(e) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission shall ensure
23that every current and former foster youth who files a timely
24application and is eligible for the award of a Chafee grant be issued
25those funds.

end delete
begin insert

26
(e) Commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, a current or
27former foster youth is entitled to a Chafee grant award, and the
28commission shall allocate that award, pursuant to the requirements
29of this section, if that current or former foster youth meets both of
30the following criteria:

end insert
begin insert

31
(1) He or she meets the Chafee grant requirements as set forth
32in the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (42
33U.S.C. Sec. 677(i)).

end insert
begin insert

34
(2) He or she submits a Free Application for Federal Student
35Aid and a Chafee grant application between January 1 and
36September 2 of each calendar year for the academic year beginning
37in the fall of that calendar year.

end insert
begin insert

38
(f) The amount of any individual Chafee grant award shall
39depend on the cost of attendance at the qualifying institution at
40which the student is enrolled. For each applicant, the award
P6    1amount shall not exceed the amount of the calculated financial
2need.

end insert


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