BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 15
AUTHOR: Cedillo
AMENDED: March 12, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: March 18, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Nancy Anton
SUBJECT : Cal Grants for Current and Former Armed Forces
Members
SUMMARY
This bill expands the students eligible to receive a Cal
Grant A or B award under the Cal Grant High School
Entitlement Program to include California residents who are
current or former members of the United States Armed Forces
beginning with the 2010-11 academic year.
BACKGROUND
The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) administers a
variety of student financial aid grant and loan programs
including several different Cal Grant programs. Cal Grants
provide for tuition and fees up a maximum of $9,708 per
year for four years and an additional annual stipend of
$1,551 for Cal Grant B recipients. The Cal Grant programs
provide awards to needy and academically eligible students
and include:
1) Cal Grant A & B 'entitlement' programs for graduating
high school seniors and recent graduates.
2) Grant A & B 'competitive' programs for students who
begin college
more than a year after graduating from high
school.
3) Caifornia Community Colleges Transfer Entitlement
Program (CCCTEP)
for students transferring from a California Community
Colleges (CCC) to a
four-year institution.
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4) Cal Grant C for students attending occupational or
vocational programs of
at least four months in duration.
For 2008-09, an estimated 277,000 Cal Grant new and renewal
awards were offered to students. For 2008-09, CSAC
estimates that the General Fund will provide approximately
$880 million in support for the Cal Grant programs.
ANALYSIS
This bill expands the eligibility pool for the Cal Grant
High School Entitlement Program to include current or
former members of the United States Armed Forces who meet
the following criteria:
1) Enlisted in the Armed Forces within one year of having
graduated from a California high school.
2) Was discharged from the Armed Forces except with a
discharge "under less than honorable conditions".
3) Enrolls in a qualifying postsecondary education
institution within two years of leaving active duty in
one of the following:
a) A California Community College.
b) A career technical education program, as
specified.
c) A qualifying undergraduate certificate or
degree.
These applicants would otherwise be required to meet all
Cal Grant eligibility requirements including being a
California resident, filing the required federal financial
aid application form (the "FAFSA"), demonstrating financial
need and being under 28 years of age; however, the
applicant would not be required to submit a high school
transcript or GPA verification form. The bill defines
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"Armed Forces of the United States" as the Air Force, Army,
Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy.
CSAC would be required, as with the other existing Cal
Grant programs, to comply with specified statutory annual
audit and legislative reporting requirements. The program
would begin with the 2010-11 academic year.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Author's intent. Under the existing Cal Grant
Entitlement Program eligible applicants who apply
within one year of high school graduation are
guaranteed a Cal Grant. Students who opt to join the
military directly out of high school forego this
guarantee. This bill is an effort to "defer" this
"guarantee" for those students so it is available once
they leave the military.
2) Existing education benefits. The federal government
recently enacted a new and substantially expanded GI
Bill that will provide eligible veterans with a
maximum education benefit that totals close to $30,000
per year for up to 4 years ($120,000 total) of
enrollment; these benefits are proportionally reduced
for veterans with less than 36 months of active duty
service. Under specified circumstances, some or all
of these benefits may be transferred to the spouse or
dependent children. This bill commonly referred to as
the "Chapter 33 GI Bill" or the "Post 9/11 GI Bill"
becomes effective August 1, 2009, and will provide the
following annual benefits:
a) Cost of tuition and fees not to exceed about
$10,000 per year.
(Cal Grants covers fees up to $9,708.)
b) A monthly housing allowance of up to $18,000
per year.
(Cal Grant B provides an annual stipend of $1,551 per
year.)
c) Book stipend of up to $1,000 per year.
(Cal Grants do not provide a specific book stipend.)
Given the substantial increase in federal education
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benefits that is now provided to veterans, does it
make sense to also qualify them for the Cal Grant
program or would it make more sense just to provide
Cal Grants to those students who do not also have
access to these military education benefits?
3) No National Guard ? The bill defines "Armed Forces of
the United States" as the Air Force, Army, Coast
Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy but does not include the
California National Guard, State Military Reserve or
Naval Militia. Is it the author's intent to exclude
these entities?
4) Technical amendments needed.
a) On page 3, lines 27-28: Clarify that the
individual must have received an honorable,
general or other-than-honorable discharge;
individuals who received a dishonorable or
bad-conduct discharge would not be eligible.
b) On page 3, Section 69436.70 (a), delete
subsections (A),(B) and (C) and, instead, insert
the following:" a qualifying undergraduate
certificate or degree program pursuant to
paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section
69434, with respect to Cal Grant A , or paragraph
(5) of subdivision (a) of Section 69435.3, with
respect to Cal Grant B.
c) On page 3, Section 69436.70 (b), after
"qualifying institution" add "in an eligible
certificate or degree program."
d) On page 3, line 37: delete subsection (4)
as it is duplicative.
e) Throughout the bill consistently use the
term "Armed Forces of the United States" rather
than "United States Armed Forces."
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5) Prior Legislation . This bill is nearly identical to
SB 1219 (Cedillo) which was passed (9-0) by the Senate
Education Committee on April 9, 2008. SB 1219 was
held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Chancellor's Office, California Community Colleges
Los Angeles Unified School District
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
OPPOSITION
None received.