California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2787

Introduced by Assembly Member Chávez

February 19, 2016

An act to amend Section 70022 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2787, as introduced, Chávez. Student financial aid: Middle Class Scholarship Program: private nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions.

Under existing law, the Middle Class Scholarship Program provides that, subject to an available and sufficient appropriation, commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, an undergraduate student enrolled at the University of California or the California State University, and meeting certain requirements, is eligible for a scholarship award that, combined with other federal, state, and institutionally administered grants and fee waivers, totals up to 40% of the systemwide tuition and fees. Under existing law, to receive an award under the Middle Class Scholarship Program, a student is required to have an annual household income that does not exceed $150,000 as adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living, satisfy specified requirements for a Cal Grant award, be a California resident or exempt from paying nonresident tuition, file specified financial aid forms, timely apply for publicly funded student financial aid for which he or she is eligible, maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average, be pursuing his or her first undergraduate baccalaureate degree or be enrolled in a specified professional teacher preparation program, and be enrolled at least part time.

Existing law transfers $159,000,000 from the General Fund to the Middle Class Scholarship Fund, and appropriates that sum to the Student Aid Commission for purposes of the scholarship program for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Existing law requires the University of California and the California State University, in order for students of their respective segments to remain eligible to receive a scholarship award under the Middle Class Scholarship Program, to not supplant their respective institutional need-based grants with funds provided for scholarships under this program, and to maintain their funding amounts at a level that, at a minimum, is equal to the level maintained for undergraduate students during the 2013-14 academic year.

This bill would extend the Middle Class Scholarship Program to undergraduate students who meet the requirements of the program and are enrolled in private nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions, commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, as specified, but the bill would not affect the statutory appropriation for the program for the 2017-18 fiscal year that is referenced above. The bill would subject participating private nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions to the requirement to maintain its scholarship funding levels, as referenced above.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 70022 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

70022.  

(a) (1) Subject to an available and sufficient
appropriation, commencing with the 2014-15 academic year, an
undergraduate student enrolled in the California State begin delete University
or end delete begin insert University, end insert the University of begin delete California end delete begin insert California, or,
commencing with the 2017-18 academic year, a private nonprofit
postsecondary educational institution end insert who meets the requirements
of paragraph (2) is eligible for a scholarship award as described
in that paragraph.

(2) Each academic year, except as provided in paragraphs (3)
and (4), an eligible student shall receive a scholarship award in an
amount that, combined with other federal, state, or institutionally
administered student grants or fee waivers received by an eligible
student, is up to 40 percent of the amount charged to that student
in that academic year for mandatory systemwide tuition and begin delete fees, end delete
begin insert fees of a student of the California State University or the University
of California, or the tuition and mandatory fees of a student of a
private nonprofit postsecondary educational institution, end insert if all of
the following requirements are met, to the satisfaction of the
commission, each academic year:

(A) The student’s annual household income does not exceed
one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). For awards
distributed for the 2016-17 academic year and subsequent
academic years, the commission shall annually adjust the maximum
income level set under this subparagraph in accordance with the
percentage changes in the cost of living within the meaning of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section 8 of Article XIII  B of
the California Constitution. For purposes of this article, annual
household income shall be calculated in a manner that is consistent
with the requirements applicable to the
Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program
(Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430)) and Section
69506.

(B) Beginning with awards distributed in the 2015-16 academic
year, the student’s household asset level shall not exceed one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000). For awards distributed
in the 2016-17 academic year and subsequent academic years, the
commission shall annually adjust the maximum household asset
level set under this subparagraph in accordance with the percentage
changes in the cost of living within the meaning of paragraph (1)
of subdivision (e) of Section 8 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution. For purposes of this article, student’s household asset
level shall be calculated in a manner that is consistent with the
requirements applicable to the
Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program
(Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430)) and Section
69506.

(C) The student satisfies the eligibility requirements for a Cal
Grant award pursuant to Section 69433.9, except that a student
who is exempt from nonresident tuition under Section 68130.5
shall not be required to satisfy the requirements of subdivision (a)
of Section 69433.9.

(D) The student is exempt from paying nonresident begin delete tuition. end delete
begin insert tuition, or would be exempt if the student attended a public
institution. end insert

(E) The student completes and submits a Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. The FAFSA must be
submitted or postmarked by no later than March 2. If the student
is not able to complete a FAFSA application, the student may
satisfy this subparagraph by submitting an application determined
by the commission to be equivalent to the FAFSA application for
purposes of this article by March 2.

(F) The student makes a timely application or applications for
all other federal, state, or institutionally administered grants or fee
waivers for which the student is eligible.

(G) The student maintains satisfactory academic progress in a
manner that is consistent with the requirements applicable to the
Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program
pursuant to subdivision (m) of Section 69432.7.

(H) The student is pursuing his or her first undergraduate
baccalaureate degree or has completed a baccalaureate degree and
has been admitted to, and is enrolled in, a program of professional
teacher preparation at an institution approved by the California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(I) The student is enrolled at least part time.

(3) (A) The percentage specified in paragraph (2) shall be
reduced by 0.6-percent increments per one thousand dollars
($1,000) of annual household income in excess of one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000), to a minimum 10 percent of
begin delete mandatory systemwide end delete begin insert the end insert tuition and fees for an academic year,
provided that no scholarship award shall be provided to a student
with an annual household income exceeding one hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($150,000). Beginning with award calculations
for the 2016-17 academic year, and for subsequent academic years,
the commission shall annually adjust the income levels specified
in this subparagraph by the percentage change in the cost of living
within the meaning of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of Section
8 of Article XIII  B of the California Constitution and shall adjust
the incremental reduction accordingly to ensure that a minimum
of 10 percent of begin delete mandatory systemwide end delete begin insert the end insert tuition and fees for an
academic year are awarded. This reduction shall be in addition to
any reduction required by Section 70023.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for any student who
qualifies for a scholarship award of at least one dollar ($1), the
minimum annual scholarship amount for full-time enrollment is
ninety dollars ($90).

(4) For the 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17 academic years,
the maximum amount of a student’s scholarship award shall be 35
percent, 50 percent, and 75 percent, respectively, of the total
scholarship award amount that the student would otherwise be
eligible to receive.

(b) In order for students enrolled in their respective segments
to remain eligible to receive a scholarship award under this article,
the University of begin delete California and end delete begin insert California, end insert the California State
begin delete University end delete begin insert University, and a participating private nonprofit
postsecondary educational institution end insert shall not supplant their
respective institutional need-based grants with the funds provided
for scholarships under this article, and shall maintain their funding
amounts at a level that, at a minimum, is equal to the level
maintained for undergraduate students during the 2013-14
academic year.

(c) The University of California and the California State
University shall report on the implementation of this article as part
of the report made pursuant to Section 66021.1.

(d) A Middle Class Scholarship Program award authorized
pursuant to this article shall be defined as a full-time equivalent
grant. An award to a part-time student shall be a fraction of a
full-time grant, as determined by the proportionate amount charged
for begin delete systemwide end delete begin insert the end insert tuition and fees. A part-time student shall not
be discriminated against in the selection of Middle Class
Scholarship Program awards. For purposes of this section,
“full-time student” and “part-time student” have the same meaning
as specified in subdivision (f) of Section 69432.7.

begin insert

(e) Section 70023 does not apply to a student attending a private
nonprofit postsecondary educational institution.

end insert