BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2160
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2160 (Ting)
As Amended May 23, 2014
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 13-0 EDUCATION 7-0
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|Ayes:|Williams, Ch�vez, Bloom, |Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |
| |Fong, Fox, Jones-Sawyer, | |Gonzalez, Nazarian, |
| |Levine, Achadjian, | |Weber, Williams |
| |Medina, Olsen, | | |
| |Quirk-Silva, Weber, Wilk | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |
| |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |
| |Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, | | |
| |Holden, Jones, Linder, | | |
| |Pan, Quirk, | | |
| | Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | |
| |Weber | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires school districts and charter schools each
year to electronically submit, to the California Student Aid
Commission (CSAC), grade point averages (GPAs) for all seniors
and requires a district or charter school, prior to submitting
the GPA for a senior who has not applied for a Cal Grant award,
to obtain written permission of the parent or guardian in
compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires GPAs for Cal Grant A and B applicants to be submitted
to CSAC; requires GPAs to include a certification by a school
official that the GPA is accurately reported; authorizes CSAC
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to establish grace periods for the receipt of GPAs and
corrections; and, establishes Legislative intent that high
schools and institutions of higher education certify GPAs of
students in time to meet Cal Grant application deadlines.
(Education Code (EDC) Section 69432)
2)Authorized school districts to release information from pupil
records to agencies or organizations in connection with the
application of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid.
However, information permitting the personal identification of
a pupil or his or her parents may be disclosed only as may be
necessary for purposes as to determine the eligibility of the
pupil for financial aid, to determine the amount of the
financial aid, to determine the conditions that will be
imposed regarding the financial aid, or to enforce the terms
or conditions of the financial aid. (EDC Section 49076)
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, school districts currently have the capability to
electronically transfer GPAs to CSAC. With regard to districts
obtaining written permission to submit the GPAs from parents (or
directly from students/graduates over age 18), the permission
form could be included along with other information already
provided to seniors at the beginning of the school year. Any
costs should be minor and absorbable. CSAC will incur one-time
costs of around $100,000 related to expanding the current Web
Grants Portal to accommodate, all school districts and ongoing
costs of $50,000 to accommodate an expected increase in calls
for students, parents, and high schools and following up and
responding to appeals.
COMMENTS : To apply for a Cal Grant award, students (or parents
of dependent students) are required, by March 2nd, to: (1)
complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA); and, (2) file a verified GPA with CSAC. Some high
schools and colleges automatically file their students' verified
GPAs with CSAC and others do not. Students are responsible for
determining whether the school has or will file the GPA
automatically, or whether the student will need to obtain a Cal
Grant GPA Verification Form, have it certified by the school
official, and mail it to CSAC by the deadline.
The Education Trust-West (ETW) is the sponsor of this bill. ETW
issued a report in 2013 entitled "The Cost of Opportunity" which
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found that only 54% of California's 12th graders completed a
FAFSA in 2012, and only 50% completed both steps of the
requirements to apply for a Cal Grant by the March 2nd deadline.
In 2014, a follow up Equity Alert entitled "Doorways to College
Aid: Boosting Access to Financial Aid in California" found that
2013 rates increased statewide by 7% and 8% respectively; a
total of 25,000 additional FAFSA completions and more than
30,000 additional Cal Grant applications. ETW notes that, while
these increases highlight the work by school districts and the
state to help students apply for financial aid, still 170,000
(42%) 12th graders from the class of 2013 did not complete a Cal
Grant application.
ETW notes that one "high-impact practice employed by districts
is to submit GPAs electronically for all students. Some
districts continue to balk at adopting this practice due to
privacy concerns despite the fact that it has proven effective
in getting more students into the pipeline for college aid. A
number of districts that have shifted to this practice have seen
dramatic gains in the number of Cal Grant awards offered to
their students." ETW research indicates that districts that
piloted using electronic GPA verification and other data-driven
practices found a 15% increase in Cal Grant completion: 71%
compared to 56% for other school districts.
This bill would require public high schools to electronically
transfer high school GPAs for all high school seniors to CSAC.
According to the author, while some districts already provide
GPAs to CSAC for all or some students, many do not. The author
notes that Los Angeles and San Francisco unified school
districts are already providing GPAs for all high school seniors
to CSAC and, according to the author, report that costs for
computer programming are minor and absorbable and districts
experienced an overall cost savings associated with high school
counselors no longer being required to complete paper forms for
students. The author also notes that CSAC reported processing
over 70,000 paper GPA forms in 2013, taking significant staff
time. The author believes that overall cost savings associated
with this bill could result in more time for high school
counsellors and CSAC to outreach to students encouraging FAFSA
completion. Without legislation, the author argues "it would
take several years for all school districts to implement the
best practice in this bill."
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Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0003765