BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1357
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|Author: |Block |
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|Version: |March 29, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: April 13, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: Community colleges:
Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant
Act: California Community Colleges Assistance
Grant Program
SUMMARY
This bill requires that the California Student Aid Commission
(CSAC) annually augment the award amount of Cal Grant B
recipients enrolled at the California Community Colleges by
$1,500, as specified, beginning with the 2017-18 award year and
requires a General Fund appropriation for this purpose in the
annual Budget Act.
BACKGROUND
Current law authorizes the Cal Grant program, administered by
the CSAC, to provide grants to financially needy students to
attend college. 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, California residency, and
other eligibility criteria, as specified in Education Code §
69433.9. (Education Code § 69430 - § 69439)
These programs currently operate as follows:
1) Cal Grant A* High School Entitlement Program provides
tuition fee funding for the equivalent of four full-time
years at qualifying postsecondary institutions to eligible
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lower and middle income high school graduates who have at
least a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) on a four-point scale
and apply within one year of graduation.
2) Cal Grant B* High School Entitlement Program provides
funds to eligible low-income high school graduates who have
at least a 2.0 GPA on a four-point scale and apply within
one year of graduation. The award provides up to $1,551
(and provides for adjustment of this amount in the Annual
Budget Act) for books and living expenses for the first
year and each year following for up to four years (or
equivalent of four full-time years). After the first year,
the award also provides tuition fee funding at qualifying
postsecondary institutions.
3) Community College Transfer Program provides a Cal Grant
A or B 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.
4) Cal Grant Competitive Award Program 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.
5) Cal Grant C Program provides funding for financially
eligible lower-income students preparing for occupational
or technical training. The authorized number of new awards
is 7,761. For new and renewal recipients, the current
tuition and fee award is up to $2,592 and the allowance for
training-related costs is $576. (Education Code § 69430 - §
69450)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Establishes the California Community Colleges Assistance
Grant Program. It:
a) Requires the California Student Aid
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Commission (CSAC) to annually augment, by $1500, the
award for a Cal Grant B Entitlement or Competitive
grant recipient enrolled in a California community
college.
b) Requires that these awards supplement
and not supplant Cal Grant B awards and other student
financial aid received by these students.
2) Requires that the awards under the California Community
Colleges Assistance Grant Program be funded by a General
Fund appropriation in the annual Budget Act.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, the community
college student demographic is much broader than the
traditional first-time student, and often includes older,
lower-income, first-generation students with families of
their own. Although these students have access to Cal
Grant B entitlement and competitive awards, the current
annual access award of $1,551 is insufficient to cover
expenses outside of school fees. According to the
Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) 2016-17 Budget Report on
Higher Education, the cost of attendance at a community
college for a student living off campus with a family is
$5,400-$12,300, with textbook costs alone ranging from
$1249-$1364. This bill would provide an additional source
of funding to community college Cal Grant B recipients to
ensure they can cover the basic costs of attendance.
2) Why only community colleges? According to information
provided by the Institute for College Access & Success
(TICAS), in Financial Aid Facts at California Community
Colleges(March 2010), while CCC fees are much lower than
tuition in other state or other colleges in California, the
total cost of attending is much higher than most people
realize. Despite high levels of need these students
receive much smaller state and institutional grants than
students at four year colleges, and full-time community
college students are the most likely to have "unmet need"
even after receiving all available aid. According to
TICAS, 90 percent of CCC students still have need after all
aid is awarded compared to 64 percent and 56 percent at
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public four-year and private four-year schools in the
state, respectively. Students at the CCC have an average
gap of $5,892 after all aid is received.
3) Similar supplemental grant in 2015-16 Budget Act. The
2015-16 Budget Act included funding for a new grant program
for California Community College Cal Grant B recipient
students. AB 93 (Weber, Budget Act of 2015) provided $39
million in ongoing Proposition 98 funds for purposes of the
Full-Time Student Success Grant Program, and SB 97
(Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Budget Act of 2015)
made $3 million of the appropriation available on a
one-time basis to support the implementation of the program
by local campuses. The Full- Time Student Success Grant
(FTSSG) provides a supplemental grant for the 2015-16
school year to community college Cal Grant B recipients who
are receiving a Cal Grant B award payment.
The 2015-16 Budget Act also provided that:
a) Eligible students must take 12 units or more.
b) The Chancellor's Office must determine the
number of students eligible for this funding and
distribute an equal amount to each student.
c) Each California Community College campus must
receive a minimum allocation of $50,000.
d) The remainder of the funding is to be
allocated to campuses based upon a formula reflecting
full-time equivalent students weighted by a measure of
low-income populations demonstrated by Board of
Governors fee waiver program participation within a
district.
The Chancellor's Office has determined that this award
shall not exceed $600 per student annually in 2015-16. The
Chancellor's Office also indicates that the intent of this
funding was a desire to support student persistence,
retention and success by providing additional assistance so
that students could attend full-time and complete their
programs. In addition, there was a desire to strengthen the
value of the access award aid for the most disadvantaged
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students.
As currently drafted, this bill appears to create a program
similar to that created by the budget, but administered
through the California Student Aid Commission. It also
appears that the $1500 award is to be granted in addition
to the award to be provided at the campus level under the
Full-Time Student Success Grant Program.
It is unclear why two distinct supplemental programs to the
Cal Grant B are necessary.
1) CSAC administration? Unlike the Full-Time Student Success
Grant Program,
the program established by this bill would be administered
by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC).
Particularly for new applicants, this administrative
structure could delay receipt of supplemental awards,
particularly as the CSAC awaits confirmation from students
and campuses of the actual enrollment of the student, a
process which can take some time to reconcile.
This supplement to the Cal Grant B program would be
exclusively available to community college students. Is
there a need for administration of a single system award
program to be centralized at a state agency? Would
distribution of supplemental awards by the Chancellor's
Office and local campuses allow for a more streamlined
implementation and speedier access to funds by students?
2) Consolidation/codification? This bill creates a program to
provide a supplemental Cal Grant B award of $1500 to a
community college student. The only criteria for the award
is that the student receives a Cal Grant B. Staff notes
that the existing Full-Time Student Success Grant Program
only exists in Budget Act language. Rather than create yet
another supplemental award program, could this program and
the program created by the 2015 Budget be consolidated?
Could/should this bill be amended to codify the program
established via budget bill language?
3) Community colleges and the Cal Grant B. A little over half
of the total Cal Grant B awardees in the state (276,000 in
2013-14) are enrolled at the California Community Colleges.
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According to information from the California Student Aid
Commission, in 2013-14, the total number of community
college Cal Grant B awardees was 139,769 with 47,376 and
92,393 awarded the Competitive award and Entitlement
awards, respectively.
SUPPORT
The Institute for College Access and Success
OPPOSITION
None received.
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