BILL NUMBER: AB 1997 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 16, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
FEBRUARY 17, 2010
An act to amend Section 69433 add and
repeal Section 76072 of the Education Code, relating
to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1997, as amended, Portantino. Community colleges: student
financial aid programs: application forms.
aid: pilot program.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state. Existing law establishes community college
districts, administered by a governing board, throughout the state,
and authorizes these districts to provide instruction to students at
the community college campuses maintained by the districts.
Existing law requires the Office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges to develop a statement that individual
students will be asked to sign, which acknowledges that federal and
state funds are available to assist with the costs of college and
that information regarding these programs, and assistance in applying
for those funds, can be obtained at the financial aid office.
This bill would require the Office of the Chancellor, until
January 1, 2014, to establish a voluntary pilot program, with
specified requirements, to increase student participation in state
and federal financial aid programs. The bill would require the Office
of the Chancellor to provide specified information on the pilot
program to the Legislative Analyst's Office by January 10, 2013,
which the Legislative Analyst's Office would be required to use to
report to the Legislature on the results of the pilot program and
make recommendations for statewide expansion of the pilot program.
Existing law establishes various student financial aid programs
under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and
establishes eligibility requirements under these programs for
participating students attending qualifying institutions.
Existing law requires the commission to authorize the use of
standardized student financial aid application forms and requires
these forms to be used for the Cal Grant Program and all other
programs funded by the state or a public institution of postsecondary
education, except that a simplified form may be used for a specified
financial assistance program of the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges.
This bill would instead authorize a community college district to
use the simplified form solely for purposes of specified fee waivers
provided by the board of governors, solely on a case-by-case basis,
and only under certain circumstances. The bill would require a
community college district that elects to use the simplified form to
annually report to the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges the number of simplified forms used and its justifications
for the use of that form.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 76072 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
76072. (a) The Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges shall establish a voluntary pilot program to
increase student participation in state and federal financial aid
programs. The chancellor shall select no more than 10 community
college campuses to participate in the pilot program from campuses
that volunteer to participate in the program. In selecting campuses
for the pilot program, the chancellor, to the extent possible, shall
ensure geographic, economic, and demographic diversity.
(b) The pilot program shall identify both of the following target
populations to participate in the pilot program:
(1) Students potentially eligible for financial aid who complete
an application for a fee waiver provided pursuant to Section 76300 or
a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
(2) Students potentially eligible for financial aid who do not
receive any campus, state, or federal financial aid.
(c) The goal of the pilot program shall be to increase student
participation in both state and federal financial aid programs by
performing actions including, but not limited to, both of the
following:
(1) Identifying strategies and best practices for increasing the
number of students who submit the FAFSA.
(2) Examining and developing strategies for increasing student
participation in state and federal financial aid programs beyond the
waiver of fees pursuant to Section 76300.
(d) The Office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges is encouraged to pursue both private and federal funding to
support implementation and operation of the pilot program.
(e) Once a pilot program has been established pursuant to
subdivision (a), the Office of the Chancellor shall provide the
following information to the Legislative Analyst's Office on or
before January 10, 2013:
(1) Strategies and techniques that the participating community
college campuses employed in administering the pilot program.
(2) Data on student participation in state and federal financial
aid programs.
(f) Based on the information received pursuant to subdivision (e),
the Legislative Analyst's Office shall report to the Legislature on
the results of the pilot program and make recommendations for
statewide expansion of the pilot program. The report shall include
all of the following:
(1) A statistical analysis of financial aid applications and
awards before and after implementation of the pilot program.
(2) A summary of the major strategies and techniques employed by
the participating community college campuses in administering the
pilot program.
(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2014, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2014, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. Section 69433 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
69433. (a) (1) A Cal Grant Program award shall be based upon the
financial need of the applicant, and shall not exceed the calculated
financial need for any individual applicant. The minimum level of
financial need of each applicant shall be determined by the
commission pursuant to Section 69432.9. The commission may provide
renewal awards.
(2) A student attending a nonpublic institution shall receive a
renewal award for tuition or fees, or both, in an amount not to
exceed the maximum allowable award amount that was in effect in the
year in which the student first received a new award.
(b) A Cal Grant award authorized pursuant to this chapter 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 commission.
(c) (1) The commission shall prescribe the use of standardized
student financial aid applications for California. These applications
shall be simple in nature, and collect common data elements required
by the federal government and those elements needed to meet the
objectives of state-funded and institutional financial aid programs.
(2) (A) The applications prescribed in paragraph (1) shall be used
for the Cal Grant Program, all other programs funded by the state or
a public institution of postsecondary education, and all federal
programs administered by a public postsecondary education
institution.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a community college district
may use a simplified form solely for purposes of fee waivers from
the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges under
Section 76300. The community college district may use the simplified
form solely on a case-by-case basis and only in those cases in which
it is determined to be appropriate by a campus authority with
responsibility for student financial aid programs. If a community
college district elects to use a simplified form pursuant to this
subparagraph, the district shall annually report to the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges the number of simplified forms
used by the district and its justifications for the use of that form.
(3) Supplemental application information may be used if the
information is essential to accomplishing the objectives of
individual programs. All supplemental application information used
for the purposes of commission-administered programs shall be subject
to approval by the commission, and applications shall be identical
for programs with similar objectives, as determined by the
commission.
(4) Public postsecondary institutions are encouraged to use, but
may decide whether to use, the standard applications for funds
provided by private donors.
(5) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in the best
interest of students that all postsecondary education institutions in
California participating in federal and state-funded financial aid
programs accept the standard applications prescribed by the
commission.
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall prevent an individual public
postsecondary institution from processing, with its own staff and
fiscal resources, the standard financial aid applications specified
in subdivision (c) for student aid programs for which it has legal
responsibility.
(e) The commission may enter into contracts with a public agency
or a private entity to improve the processing and distribution of
grants, fellowships, and loans through the use of electronic networks
and unified databases.