BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1314|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1314
Author: Block (D)
Amended: 8/1/16
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 3/30/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-1, 5/27/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 39-0, 5/31/16
AYES: Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,
Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Glazer, Hall,
Hancock, Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson,
Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone,
Vidak, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 8/18/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Cal Grant Program: Middle Class Scholarship
Program: community college baccalaureate degree
program students
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill clarifies that a community college student
participating in a community college baccalaureate degree pilot
program who meets the specified Cal Grant program criteria is
able to receive an award for purposes of covering upper division
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Page 2
coursework fees, and additionally extends awards under the
Middle Class Scholarship program to eligible community college
baccalaureate degree students for the same purpose, as
specified.
Assembly Amendments include double-jointing provisions to avoid
chaptering problems with AB 1449 (Lopez).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the Cal Grant program, administered by the
California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), to provide grants to
financially needy students to attend a college or university.
The Cal Grant programs include both the entitlement and the
competitive Cal Grant awards. The program consists of the Cal
Grant A, Cal Grant B, and Cal Grant C programs and eligibility
is based upon financial need, grade point average (GPA),
California residency and other criteria. (Education Code §
69430 - 69433)
2)Establishes the Cal Grant A entitlement award to be used for
tuition or fees for the equivalent of four full-time years at
qualifying postsecondary institutions to eligible lower and
middle income high school graduates who have at least a 3.0
GPA on a four-point scale and apply within one year of
graduation. A Cal Grant A recipient who decides to attend a
California community college may elect to have the award held
in "reserve" for a period not to exceed two years. (EC §
69434 and 69434.5)
3)Establishes the maximum Cal Grant B award for a qualified
student equal to the mandatory systemwide fees in the segment
attended by the student, except for community college students
who receive waivers from the Board of Governors (BOG) of the
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Page 3
California Community College (CCC), plus the access award,
except that in the first year of enrollment in a qualifying
institution, the maximum award shall be only for the amount of
the access award. (EC § 66021.2)
4)Authorizes CCC Transfer Entitlement Awards which provides Cal
Grant A or B awards to eligible high school graduates who have
a community college GPA of at least 2.4 on a four point scale
and transfer to a qualifying baccalaureate degree granting
college or university. (EC § 69436)
5)Authorizes Cal Grant Competitive Awards program which provides
22,500 Cal Grant A and B awards available to applicants who
meet financial, academic, and general program eligibility
requirements. Half of these awards are reserved for students
enrolled at a community college and who met the September 2
application deadline. (EC § 69437 - 69437.7)
6)Establishes the Middle Class Scholarship Program and provides
that an undergraduate student enrolled at the University of
California (UC) or the California State University (CSU) and
meets certain requirements, is eligible for a scholarship
award that combined with other grants and fee waivers, as
specified, totals up to 40 percent of the systemwide tuition
and fees. To qualify, a student is required to have an annual
household income that does not exceed $150,000, as adjusted
for changes in cost of living, satisfies specified
requirements for the Cal Grant award, maintain at least a 2.0
GPA, and meet other requirements. Existing law requires the
UC and the CSU to provide the CSAC with any financial aid data
that are necessary for the determination of award amounts. (EC
§ 7002)
7)Requires the BOG to charge each student a $46 per unit per
semester fee. Existing law requires a waiver (BOG waiver) of
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Page 4
these fees for certain students including a student who meets
specified income requirements. (EC § 76300)
8)Authorizes the BOG of CCC, in consultation with the CSU and
the UC, to establish a statewide baccalaureate degree pilot
program at not more than 15 CCC districts, as specified. In
addition to the $46 per unit enrollment fee authorized
pursuant to Education Code Section 76300, districts are
authorized to charge an $84 per unit fee for upper division
coursework in a baccalaureate degree pilot program. (EC §
78040 - 78042)
This bill:
1)Clarifies that a community college student participating in a
community college baccalaureate degree pilot program who meets
Cal Grant (A or B) entitlement, competitive or transfer award
criteria is able to receive the award for upper division
coursework fees.
2)Deems a community college student enrolled in upper division
course work of a community college baccalaureate program, who
meets specified requirements eligible for a Middle Class
Scholarship and:
a) Allows the scholarship to be renewed for two years of
full-time upper division coursework attendance in the
community college baccalaureate degree program, for a
community college award recipient.
b) Requires the Chancellor's Office of the CCC to provide
the CSAC with any financial aid data that are necessary for
the determination of a sufficient amount, as specified, to
provide scholarships to eligible students.
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3)Makes a number of technical changes.
4)Includes double-jointing provisions to avoid chaptering
problems with AB 1449 (Lopez).
Comments
1)Need for the bill. SB 850 (Block, Chapter 747, Statutes of
2014) authorized the CCC to establish a baccalaureate degree
pilot program. According to the author, the CSAC and the CCC
Chancellor's office have opined that, under existing law, it
is unclear whether community college students enrolled in
these new programs could receive Cal Grant assistance for
upper division coursework fees at a CCC.
2)Why is there a lack of clarity? Community college students
who are Cal Grant recipients would typically have the
community college enrollment fee waived through the BOG fee
waiver program. For example, community college students who
receive a Cal Grant A Entitlement award would normally have
their award held in reserve for up to two years until the
student transfers to a four-year institution, at which time
the CSAC would disburse the Cal Grant A award.
According to CSAC, Cal Grant A funds have never been disbursed
to a community college student since all community college
fees up to this point would be covered by the BOG fee waiver.
The CSAC believe that they must be provided clear authority to
disburse Cal Grant A award funds to a community college
student for purposes of paying the upper division fee with Cal
Grant monies.
Unlike Cal Grant A students, Cal Grant B students at a
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community college receive an access award. However, similar
to the Cal Grant A award, the portion of the Cal Grant B award
that covers tuition and fees is typically waived through the
BOG waiver. Presumably, a Cal Grant B access award could be
disbursed to students beyond two years even if tuition is not.
Nonetheless, it appears that the authority to disburse Cal
Grant B awards specifically for the upper division coursework
fee is needed.
This bill provides clear authority to disburse Cal Grant A
(entitlement, transfer and competitive), Cal Grant B
(entitlement, transfer and competitive) award funds to
eligible community college students for purposes of paying
covering upper division fees.
3)Middle Class Scholarship Program. Existing law establishes
the Middle Class Scholarship Program. An undergraduate student
enrolled at the UC or CSU that meets certain requirements, is
eligible for a scholarship award, which combined with other
grants and fee waivers may total up to 40 percent of the
systemwide tuition and fees. To qualify, a student is
required to have an annual household income that does not
exceed $150,000, as adjusted for changes in cost of living,
satisfies specified requirements for the Cal Grant award,
maintain at least a 2.0 GPA, and meet other requirements.
Existing law requires the UC and the CSU to provide the CSAC
with any financial aid data that are necessary for the
determination of award amounts.
This bill extends awards under the Middle Class Scholarship
Program to a community college student enrolled in upper
division course work of a community college baccalaureate
program, who meets specified requirements eligible for a
Middle Class Scholarship and allows the scholarship to be
renewed for two years of full-time upper division coursework
attendance. Consistent with the requirements for CSU and UC,
this bill also requires the CCC Chancellor's office to provide
the CSAC with financial aid data that are necessary for the
determination of a sufficient amount to provide scholarships
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to eligible students.
4)CCC baccalaureate degree program. The pilot degree program is
currently limited to 15 community college districts with one
baccalaureate degree program authorized at each participating
district. A student enrolled in the pilot program cannot be
charged fees greater than the mandatory systemwide fee charged
for the CSU baccalaureate degree programs. Students must
complete their degree by the end of 2022 - 2023 academic year
as the program is scheduled to sunset July 1, 2023. Arguably,
if these students had gained access to an eligible four-year
institution like UC or CSU the overall fees would be greater
than fees for the CCC baccalaureate program.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
1)Estimated General Fund costs of $1.4 million in 2016-17, $2.7
million in 2017-18, and $3.1 million in 2018-19 for Cal Grants
and Middle Class Scholarship awards, based on an estimated
381,702, and 803 total recipients, respectively. Costs will
continue until the pilot program sunsets in 2022-23. Cost will
continue if the program is extended and will increase if the
program is expanded to additional districts.
2)CSAC will have annual administrative costs (General Fund) of
about $90,000 for one position.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/19/16)
None received
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Page 8
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/19/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 8/18/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez,
Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson,
Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth,
Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Dababneh, Roger Hernández, Kim
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/19/16 19:29:34
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