BILL NUMBER: SB 2064 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 336
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 21, 1998
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 21, 1998
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 12, 1998
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 11, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 10, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 9, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 2, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 1998
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 15, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 6, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 1998
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 1998
INTRODUCED BY Senator O'Connell
(Coauthors: Senators Alpert, Greene, Hayden, Hughes, and Solis)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Cardoza, Davis, Ducheny,
Havice, Machado, Mazzoni, Runner, Scott, Strom-Martin, Wayne, and
Wildman)
FEBRUARY 20, 1998
An act to amend Sections 66021.2, 69532, 69535, and 69538 of, and
to add Section 69540 to, the Education Code, relating to student
financial aid, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 2064, O'Connell. Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program.
(1) Existing law establishes the Cal Grant Program and requires
Cal Grant A awards to be used only for tuition and student fees in
instructional programs of no less than 2 academic years and Cal Grant
B awards to be used only for tuition, student fees, and subsistence
costs in an instructional program of no less than one academic year.
Existing law requires there to be a minimum of 17,400 new Cal Grant
A awards each year and 12,250 new Cal Grant B awards each year.
This bill would delete the requirement that there be a minimum
number of new Cal Grant A and B awards each year. The bill would
require that the eligibility criteria for first-time Cal Grant award
recipients who are community college students and transfer to a
4-year college or university be no more stringent than the
eligibility criteria for other first-time Cal Grant award recipients
attending a 4-year college or university. The bill would create a
new category of Cal Grant awards to be known as the Cal Grant T award
to be used only for tuition and student fees for a maximum of one
academic year of full-time attendance in a program of professional
preparation that has been approved by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing. The bill would require there to be a minimum of 3,000
new Cal Grant T awards each year.
(2) Under existing law, the long-term policy governing the maximum
award of Cal Grants for students attending nonpublic institutions is
based on a formula that includes the average cost of instruction and
academic support, as determined by the California State University
nonresident tuition methodology.
This bill would instead include in that formula 75% of the average
General Fund cost per student at the California State University.
(3) This bill would declare it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that access to a
baccalaureate education relies heavily on a successful transfer
function in the community colleges, and access to student financial
aid may be an essential component in enabling a student to transfer
from a community college and attend a baccalaureate degree-granting
institution.
(b) Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
and promote the opportunity for community college students who
successfully complete lower division requirements and attain
eligibility to transfer to the California State University, the
University of California or a four-year independent college or
university and that eligibility criteria for the Cal Grant student
financial aid program be no more stringent for students transferring
to a baccalaureate degree-granting institution than for other
students attending these institutions.
SEC. 2. Section 66021.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:
66021.2. Consistent with the state's historic commitment to
provide educational opportunity by ensuring both student access to
and selection of an institution of higher education for students with
financial need, the long-term Cal Grant policy shall be as follows:
(a) The number of first-year awards shall be equal to at least
one-quarter of the number of graduating high school seniors.
(b) The maximum award for students attending the University of
California and the California State University shall, at a minimum,
equal the mandatory systemwide and campus-based student fees in each
of those segments.
(c) The maximum award for students attending nonpublic
institutions shall be set and maintained at the estimated average
General Fund cost of educating a student at the public four-year
institutions of higher education. In accordance with this policy,
the formula for determining the estimated average General Fund cost
shall include both of the following:
(1) Seventy-five percent of the average General Fund cost per
student at the California State University.
(2) The average of the University of California and the California
State University systemwide and campus-based student fees.
(d) The implementation of the policy described in subdivisions
(a), (b), and (c) shall be subject to the availability of funds
appropriated for that purpose in the annual Budget Act and shall
maintain a balance between the state's policy goals of ensuring
student access to and selection of an institution of higher education
for students with financial need.
SEC. 3. Section 69532 of the Education Code is amended to read:
69532. Cal Grant Program awards shall be known as "Cal Grant A
awards," "Cal Grant B awards," "Cal Grant C awards," and "Cal Grant T
awards." The maximum award in each category shall be determined in
the annual Budget Act.
(a) Cal Grant A awards shall be used only for tuition and student
fees in an instructional program of no less than two academic years.
Commencing as soon as feasible, but no later than the award cycle
that provides awards for the 1999-2000 academic year, the eligibility
criteria for first-time Cal Grant award recipients who are community
college students and transfer to a four-year college or university
shall be no more stringent than the eligibility criteria for other
first-time Cal Grant award recipients attending a four-year college
or university.
(b) Cal Grant B awards shall be used only for tuition, student
fees, and subsistence costs in an instructional program of no less
than one academic year. Subsistence costs are living expenses,
transportation, supplies, and books. Commencing as soon as feasible,
but no later than the award cycle that provides awards for the
1999-2000 academic year, the eligibility criteria for first-time Cal
Grant award recipients who are community college students and
transfer to a four-year college or university shall be no more
stringent than the eligibility criteria for other first-time Cal
Grant award recipients attending a four-year college or university.
(c) Cal Grant C awards shall be used only for occupational or
technical training in a course of no less than four months. There
shall be a minimum of 1,570 new Cal Grant C awards each year.
(d) Cal Grant T awards shall be used only for tuition and student
fees for a maximum of one academic year of full-time attendance in a
program of professional preparation that has been approved by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing. There shall be a minimum of
3,000 new Cal Grant T awards each year.
SEC. 4. Section 69535 of the Education Code is amended to read:
69535. (a) Cal Grant Program awards shall be based upon the
financial need of the applicant. The level of financial need of each
applicant shall be determined by the commission pursuant to Article
1.5 (commencing with Section 69503).
(b) For the applicants so qualifying, academic criteria or
criteria related to past performances shall be utilized as the
criteria in determining eligibility for grants.
(c) All Cal Grant Program award recipients shall be residents of
California, as determined by the commission pursuant to Part 41
(commencing with Section 68000), and shall remain eligible only if
they are in attendance and making satisfactory progress through the
instructional programs, as determined by the commission.
(d) Part-time students shall not be discriminated against in the
selection of Cal Grant Program award recipients, and awards to
part-time students shall be roughly proportional to the time spent in
the instructional program, as determined by the commission.
First-time Cal Grant Program award recipients who are part-time
students shall be eligible for a full-time renewal award.
(e) Cal Grant Program awards shall be awarded without regard to
race, religion, creed, sex, or age.
(f) No applicant shall receive more than one type of Cal Grant
Program award concurrently. Except as provided in subdivisions (b)
and (c) of Section 69535.1, no applicant shall:
(1) Receive one or a combination of Cal Grant Program awards in
excess of a total of four years of full-time attendance in an
undergraduate program.
(2) Have obtained a baccalaureate degree prior to receiving a Cal
Grant Program award, except as provided in Section 69540.
(g) Cal Grant Program awards, except as provided in subdivision
(c) of Section 69535.1, may only be used for educational expenses of
a program of study leading directly to an undergraduate degree or
certificate, or for expenses of undergraduate coursework in a program
of study leading directly to a first professional degree, but for
which no baccalaureate degree is awarded.
(h) Commencing in 1999, the commission shall, for students who
accelerate college attendance, increase the amount of award
proportional to the period of additional attendance resulting from
attendance in classes that fulfill requirements or electives for
graduation during summer terms, sessions, or quarters. In the
aggregate, the total amount a student may receive in a four-year
period may not be increased as a result of accelerating his or her
progress to a degree by attending summer terms, sessions, or
quarters.
(i) The commission shall notify Cal Grant award recipients of the
availability of funding for the summer term, session, or quarter
through prominent notice in financial aid award letters, materials,
guides, electronic information, and other means that may include, but
not be limited to, surveys, newspaper articles, or attachments to
communications from the commission and any other published documents.
(j) The commission may provide by appropriate rules and
regulations for reports, accounting, and statements from the award
winner and college or university of attendance pertaining to the use
or application of the award as the commission may deem proper.
(k) The commission may establish Cal Grant Program awards in one
hundred dollar ($100) increments.
(l) A Cal Grant Program award may be utilized only at the
following institutions or programs:
(1) Any California private or independent postsecondary
educational institution or program that participates in two of the
three federal campus-based student aid programs and whose students
participate in the Pell Grant program.
(2) Any nonprofit regionally accredited institution headquartered
and operating in California that certifies to the commission that 10
percent of the institution's operating budget, as demonstrated in an
audited financial statement, is expended for the purposes of
institutionally funded student financial aid in the form of grants
and that demonstrates to the commission that it has the
administrative capacity to administer the funds.
(3) Any California public postsecondary educational institution or
program.
SEC. 5. Section 69538 of the Education Code is amended to read:
69538. (a) To be eligible for a Cal Grant B award, the applicant
shall be a disadvantaged student under criteria to be established by
the commission, which shall take into consideration those financial,
educational, cultural, language, home, community, environmental, and
other conditions that hamper access to and persistence in
postsecondary programs.
(b) The Legislature recognizes that the role of the community
colleges, as the least expensive level of California higher
education, is a crucial role in increasing the higher education
opportunities for disadvantaged students, and it is the intent of the
Legislature that the additional opportunities for higher education
provided pursuant to this section shall be initiated primarily on the
public community college level.
(c) Regarding the intent that the additional opportunities for
higher education provided under this section be initiated primarily
on the public community college level, the commission shall continue
to allocate Cal Grant B awards as they were allocated up to and
including the 1997-98 academic year.
(d) Awards under this section shall be for subsistence costs. The
commission may also award these grants and an additional amount to
pay tuition and fees to attend college at a public or private
four-year college or university or other eligible postsecondary
educational institution. No more than 2 percent of new recipients
enrolling for the first time in an institution of postsecondary
education shall be eligible for tuition payments and fees in their
first academic year of attendance.
(e) An individual selected for a Cal Grant B award who enrolls in
a public community college in his or her first year of attendance,
and who is determined to be financially ineligible for renewal of the
award in the second year of attendance at a public community college
but would be financially eligible for renewal, if he or she had
elected to attend a four-year college, may elect to have the award
held in trust for a period not to exceed two academic years, except
that the commission may extend the period in which the award is held
in trust for up to three academic years, if, in the commission's
judgment, the individual's rate of academic progress has been as
rapid as could be expected for the personal and financial conditions
that the individual has encountered. The commission shall, in this
case, hold the award in trust, to be granted to the individual upon
receipt of his or her request therefor within that period, provided
that at the time of making the request the individual meets all the
requirements of this chapter. Upon receipt of the request, the
commission shall assess or reassess the financial needs of the
individual. The commission may prescribe the forms and procedures to
be utilized for the purposes of this section. The commission may
award to another eligible individual any award being so held in
trust, subject to the provisions of this section and any other
conditions and restrictions that may be imposed by the commission, to
the end that all authorized awards are continually being utilized.
Following the first year for which any award is made, the awards
shall be included in the number of the continuing awards available
for any year and not the authorized new awards for the year.
SEC. 6. Section 69540 is added to the Education Code, to read:
69540. (a) Students who have completed a baccalaureate degree and
who have been admitted to a program of professional teacher
preparation at an institution approved by the California Commission
on Teacher Credentialing are eligible to receive a Cal Grant T award
for the equivalent of one year of full-time attendance. Payment for
this additional year is limited to only those courses required for an
initial teaching authorization. An award under this section may not
be used for other courses.
(b) The commission shall allocate Cal Grant T awards using
academic criteria or criteria related to past performance similar to
that used in awarding Cal Grant A awards.
SEC. 7. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to make statutory changes necessary for the
implementation of the Budget Act of 1998, it is necessary that this
act take effect immediately.