BILL ANALYSIS
SB 957
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
SB 957 (Price) - As Amended: May 3, 2010
SUBJECT : Student financial aid: Cal Grant C awards.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)
to give priority for Cal Grant C awards to students pursuing
training in fields with high employment need, high salary or
wage projections, or high employment growth. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Requires CSAC to review and update the areas of occupational
and technical training for which students may utilize Cal
Grant C awards at least every five years, beginning in 2011.
2)Requires CSAC to give priority in granting Cal Grant C awards
to students pursuing occupational or technical training in
areas that meet at least two of the following criteria:
a) High employment need;
b) High employment salary or wage projections; and/or,
c) High employment growth.
3)Requires CSAC to determine areas of occupational or technical
training that meet the aforementioned criteria in consultation
with the Employment Development Department using projections
available through the Labor Market Information Data Library.
4)Requires the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report
to the Governor and Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal
Grant C Program on or before April 1, 2014, and on or before
each even-numbered year thereafter. Requires the report to
include information on the age, gender, segment of attendance,
the occupational and technical training program categories
prioritized, and the number and percentage of students who
received selection priority.
EXISTING LAW establishes the Cal Grant Program, administered by
CSAC, to provide grants to financially needy students to attend
college. Cal Grant C awards assist with fees and tuition and
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training-related costs such as special clothing or required
tools at occupational or vocational schools of four months or
longer and provides that grants may be renewed until the
completion of the training, up to a maximum of two years.
"Occupational or technical training" is defined as education
after the completion of a secondary school program, leading
toward recognized occupational goals approved by CSAC in
consultation with appropriate state and federal agencies. CSAC
is also required to take into account other state and federal
programs available to the applicant.
FISCAL EFFECT : Based on the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis, Cal Grant C currently only has the minimum number of
staff needed to ensure eligibility and process grants, and
according to CSAC estimates, an additional full-time position at
an annual cost of $85,000 would be necessary to meet the
provisions of this bill. However, based on amendments taken as
the bill moved off Senate Appropriations suspense file, the
staffing costs should be reduced by approximately half.
COMMENTS : Purpose of this bill : The author notes that current
law is silent on how to best prioritize the awarding of Cal
Grant C funds, to ensure that recipients are students seeking
jobs that track well with the state's most urgent labor and
employment needs. This bill seeks to require CSAC to
strategically direct Cal Grant C funds to recipients seeking
occupations with high employment demand, growth potential,
wages, and/or importance to California's strategic initiatives.
The author believes that this bill will maximize the
opportunities for Californians to acquire the necessary job
skills to gain and keep employment.
Background on Cal Grant C : The total number of Cal Grant C
awards is established in state law as the number awarded in the
2000-01 fiscal year (7,761). There are about 16,500 new and
renewal awards offered annually. The maximum award amount and
the total amount of funding are determined in the annual Budget
Act. However, the award amount has not increased since 2000-01,
remaining at $2,592 toward tuition and fees and an allowance of
$576 for training-related costs. According to CSAC, Cal Grant C
recipients make up 5% of all current Cal Grants, have an average
family income of $21,792, are an average age of 31, and have an
average entering grade-point average (GPA) of 2.75. Cal Grant C
recipients are most likely to pursue a career technical
certificate or degree at the California Community Colleges (63%)
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or at a private for-profit institution (35%).
Student eligibility requirements : Students who meet general
eligibility criteria for Cal Grants may be considered for Cal
Grant C. The general eligibility requirements include
citizenship, residency, enrollment, academic progress, and
income standards, among other requirements. There is no high
school graduation requirement, minimum grade point average, or
maximum age for Cal Grant C applicants. In addition to general
eligibility, Cal Grant C applicants must submit a supplemental
application documenting that they are enrolling in a recognized
program lasting at least four months and leading to a recognized
occupational goal and listing information regarding the program
of enrollment and work history of the applicant. Effective with
the 2009-10 grant cycle, CSAC selects applicants for awards
through a point scoring process that examines educational
history, occupational history, and GPA. Point earners above a
cut-off level receive award offers. In the 2009-10 cycle, about
44% of students who submitted Cal Grant C supplements made the
cut-off and received award offers. Under the provisions of this
bill, student eligibility requirements would not change.
Committee staff understands that CSAC would implement a
procedure whereby additional points would be awarded for
applicants in the high-growth, high-need, and high-wage training
programs.
Educational choices and student displacement : Cal Grant C
recipients are authorized to choose from a variety of
CSAC-approved career technical programs. According to data
provided by CSAC, the greatest number of awards goes to students
in the health professions fields: nurses, specialized
technicians, medical office management, and dental assistants,
etc. CSAC notes that other popular programs are business,
computer science, human services, and accountancy. Under this
bill, Cal Grant C applicants entering any CSAC-approved program
would still be eligible to apply for an award, however priority
would be given to those applicants in the outlined high-growth,
high-need, and high-wage training programs. CSAC notes that
according to 2006-2016 data projections supplied by the
California Employment Development Department's Labor Market Data
Survey, occupational areas that would likely be eligible to
receive selection priority under the provisions of this bill
would be registered nurses, computer support specialists, and
industrial engineer technicians. As those fields are already
very popular among Cal Grant C applicants, CSAC believes that
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displacement caused by the priority awarding outlined in this
bill would be minimal and, under the point scoring system, would
affect recipients pursuing other technical programs who did not
earn high scores in other areas of selection criteria such as
educational history, occupational history, and GPA.
Prioritizing high-quality institutions : This bill appears to
aim to maximize California's return on investment in the Cal
Grant C program through better aligning the program with
workforce needs. The author and committee may also wish to
consider how prioritization of high-quality training providers
with high placement rates might impact California's workforce
needs. CSAC, for example, could examine graduation rates and
job placement data from institutions and training programs (data
that is required to be reported to accrediting bodies and/or the
Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education) and provide
additional points for students enrolling in these high-quality
institutions.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on File
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960