Amended in Senate August 16, 2016

Amended in Senate June 29, 2016

Amended in Assembly May 27, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 30, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2506


Introduced by Assembly Member Thurmond

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez)

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: Chafee grant awards.

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 bill would, to the extent permitted by federal law, establish the standards to be met by postsecondary educationalbegin delete institutionsend deletebegin insert institutions, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year,end insert in order to be deemed to be qualifying institutions in this state with respect to the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program.begin delete The bill would 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 criteria.end delete

The bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the memorandum of understanding entered into between the State Department of Social Services and the Student Aid Commission for the administration of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program be amended to reflect the provisions of this bill. The bill would provide that, notwithstanding any of its other provisions, an individual who has received a Chafee grant award for the 2016-17 academic year, and is enrolled at a postsecondary educational institution in this state, would be entitled to use a Chafee grant award for as long as he or she is enrolled at that institution and is making reasonable progress toward graduation or toward otherwise completing his or her course of study at that institution.

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.

begin delete

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
P3    1complete three semesters or more of community college, as
2compared with 34 percent of foster youth who do not receive the
3Chafee Educational and Training Voucher.

4(4) Access to the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher is
5limited. One in four eligible applicants is not awarded a grant due
6to limited funding. Without improved access to financial aid, foster
7youth experience low educational attainment.

8(5) Low educational attainment is a factor in the poor adult
9outcomes experienced by youth in foster care. Compared to their
10same-age counterparts, former foster youth at 26 years of age are
11400 percent more likely to have been incarcerated and 300 percent
12more likely to be living below the federal poverty level.

13(c) The Legislature recognizes its responsibility to provide and
14adequately fund postsecondary programs and services for students
15who are current and former foster youth attending public
16postsecondary institutions.

17(d)

end delete

18begin insert(c)end insert The Legislature recognizes the importance of quality
19education, and has taken action in the past to ensure financial aid
20is directed to postsecondary institutions at which the graduation
21rate and cohort default rate reflect a reasonable likelihood of
22student graduation and success.

begin delete

23(e) Therefore, it is necessary and appropriate to take steps to
24encourage the enrollment, retention, and transfer of current and
25former foster youth in California’s public colleges and universities
26by ensuring that all foster youth who meet the eligibility criteria
27for the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher receive a grant.
28Providing academic support to current and former foster youth in
29the California Community Colleges serves a significant
30governmental and public interest, namely the reduction in poverty
31and criminal justice involvement among youth who have been in
32foster care in California.

end delete
33

SEC. 2.  

Section 69518.5 is added to the Education Code, to
34read:

35

69518.5.  

(a) To the extent permitted by federal law, this section
36establishes the standards for postsecondary educational institutions
37to be classified as qualifying institutions in this state for purposes
38of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program
39authorized by the federal Promoting Safe and Stable Families
40Amendments of 2001 (Public Law 107-133).

begin delete

P4    1(b) The commission shall certify by October 1 of each year a
2postsecondary educational institution’s latest three-year cohort
3default rate and graduation rate as most recently reported by the
4United States Department of Education.

end delete
begin delete

5(c)

end delete

6begin insert(end insertbegin insertb)end insert In accordance with subdivision (a),begin insert for purposes of the
72017-18 academic year and each academic year thereafter,end insert
the
8following standards shall apply in determining an institution’s
9eligibility for the use of initial and renewal Chafee grant awards
10by its students:

11(1) An otherwise qualifying institution with a three-year cohort
12default rate that is equal to or greater than 15.5 percent, as certified
13by the commission on October 1, 2017, and on October 1 of any
14year thereafter, shall be ineligible for the use of initial and renewal
15Chafee grant awards at the institution.

16(2) (A) An otherwise qualifying institution that becomes
17ineligible under thisbegin delete paragraphend deletebegin insert subdivisionend insert for initial and renewal
18Chafee grant awards may regain its eligibility for the academic
19year following an academic year in which it satisfies the
20requirements established in paragraph (1) or (4), as applicable.

21(B) If the United States Department of Education corrects or
22revises an institution’s three-year cohort default rate or graduation
23rate that originally failed to satisfy the requirements established
24in paragraph (1) or (4), as applicable, and the correction or revision
25results in the institution’s three-year cohort default rate or
26graduation rate satisfying those requirements, that institution shall
27immediately regain its eligibility for the academic year to which
28the corrected or revised three-year cohort default rate or graduation
29rate would have been applied.

30(3) An otherwise qualifying institution for which no three-year
31cohort default rate or graduation rate has been reported by the
32United States Department of Education shall be provisionally
33eligible for Chafee grant awards until a three-year cohort default
34rate or graduation rate has been reported for the institution by the
35United States Department of Education.

36(4) begin deleteFor purposes of the 2017-18 academic year, and every
37academic year thereafter, an end delete
begin insertAn end insertotherwise qualifying institution
38with a graduation rate of 30 percent or less for students taking 150
39percent or less of the expected time to complete degree
40requirements, as reported by the United States Department of
P5    1Education and as certified by the commission, shall be ineligible
2for the use of initial and renewal Chafee grant awards at the
3institution.

4(5) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of this
5subdivision do not apply to institutions with 40 percent or less of
6undergraduate students borrowing federal student loans, using
7information reported to the United States Department of Education
8for the academic year two years before the year in which the
9commission is certifying the three-year cohort default rate or
10graduation rate.

begin delete

11(6) Notwithstanding any other law, the requirements of this
12subdivision do not apply to institutions where an eligible Chaffee
13grant recipient is attending an institution outside of California.

end delete
begin delete

14(7) Nothing in this section shall preclude an eligible Chafee
15grant recipient who chooses to attend an institution outside of
16California from using Chafee funds at that institution.

end delete
begin delete

17(d)

end delete

18begin insert(end insertbegin insertc)end insert The commission shall dobegin delete allend deletebegin insert bothend insert of the following:

19(1) Notify initial recipients seeking to attend, or attending, an
20institution that is ineligible for initial and renewal Chafee grant
21awards under paragraph (1) or (4) of subdivisionbegin delete (c)end deletebegin insert (b)end insert that the
22institution is ineligible, under state standards, for the use of initial
23awards for the academic year for which the student received an
24initial award.

25(2) Notify renewal recipients attending an institution that is
26ineligible, under state standards, for initial and renewal Chafee
27grant awards at the institution under paragraph (1) or (4) of
28subdivisionbegin delete (c).end deletebegin insert (b).end insert

begin delete

29(3) Provide initial and renewal Chafee grant recipients seeking
30to attend, or attending, an institution that is ineligible for initial
31and renewal Chafee grant awards at the institution under paragraph
32(1) or (4) of subdivision (c) with a complete list of all California
33postsecondary educational institutions at which the student would
34be eligible, under state standards, to receive an unreduced Chafee
35grant award.

36(e) Commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, a current or
37former foster youth is entitled to a Chafee grant award, and the
38commission shall allocate that award, pursuant to the requirements
39of this section, if that current or former foster youth meets both of
40the following criteria:

P6    1(1) He or she meets the Chafee grant requirements as set forth
2in the John H. Chafee Foster Care Independence Program (42
3U.S.C. Sec. 677(i)).

4(2) He or she submits a Free Application for Federal Student
5Aid and a Chafee grant application between January 1 and
6September 2 of each calendar year for the academic year beginning
7in the fall of that calendar year.

8(f) The amount of any individual Chafee grant award shall
9depend on the cost of attendance at the qualifying institution at
10which the student is enrolled. For each applicant, the award amount
11shall not exceed the amount of the calculated financial need.

12(g)

end delete

13begin insert(d)end insert It is the intent of the Legislature that the memorandum of
14understanding entered into between the State Department of Social
15Services and the Student Aid Commission for the administration
16of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program be
17amended to reflect the provisions of this section.

begin delete

18(h)

end delete

19begin insert(e)end insert Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, an
20individual who has (1) received a Chafee grant award for the
212016-17 academic year, and (2) is enrolled at a postsecondary
22educational institution in this state, shall be entitled to use a Chafee
23grant award for as long as he or she is enrolled at that institution
24and is making reasonable progress toward graduation or toward
25otherwise completing his or her course of study at that institution.



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