SB 1028, as amended, Jackson. Student financial aid: Cal Grant C awards.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Act, establishes the Cal Grant C program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under this program. The act requires that a Cal Grant C award be used only for occupational or technical training, as defined, in a course of not less than 4 months. The act requires the commission, after consultation with state and federal agencies, to determine the areas of occupational or technical training for which Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded. Existing law also requires the Student Aid Commission to develop, and regularly review and update at least every 5 years, the areas of occupational or technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards and to give priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet specified criteria. The act requires the maximum award amount and total amount of funding for the Cal Grant C program to be determined each year in the annual Budget Act. The act requires the number of the awards made each year to be the same as the number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year. The act requires the commission to give priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet specified criteria.
This bill would revise and recast the act to, among other things, require the number of awards made each year to be at least the same number of awards made for the 2000-01 fiscal year and would require, if sufficient funds are available, the amount awarded to be not less than $3,009, and not more than $5,000, per award. The bill would require the commission to give special consideration to the social and economic situations of the students applying for the grants, giving additional weight to applicants facing specified challenges. In determining the individual award amounts, the bill would additionally require the commission to take into account the financial means available to the student to fund his or her course of study and costs of attendance. The bill would revise the criteria that areas of occupational or technical training are required to meet to be given priority for awards, as specified. The bill would require the commission, in consultation with specified entities, for purposes of the Cal Grant C program, to prioritize occupational training programs and industry clusters. The bill would require the commission to consult with specified public entities to develop a plan to publicize the grant award program to California’s long-term unemployed to be used by those specified public entities when they come into contact with members of the population who are likely to be experiencing long-term unemployment and would require the commission to develop a plan to make students receiving awards aware of job search and placement services available through specified public entities. Because a local workforce investment board would be required to use the plan to publicize the grant award program for the long-term unemployed, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 69439 of the Education Code is amended
2to read:
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
4have the following meanings:
5(1) “Career pathway” has the same meaning as set forth in
6Section 88620.
7(2) “Economic security” has the same meaning as set forth in
8Section 14005 of the Unemployment Insurance Code.
9(3) “Industry cluster” has the same meaning as set forth in
10Section 88620.
11(4) “Long-term unemployed” means, with respect to an award
12applicant, a person who has been unemployed for more than 26
13weeks at the time of
submission to the commission of his or her
14application.
15(5) “Occupational or technical training” means that phase of
16education coming after the completion of a secondary school
17program and leading toward recognized occupational goals
18approved by the commission.
19(b) (1) A Cal Grant C award shall be utilized only for
20occupational or technical training in a course of not less than four
21months. There shall be, at least, the same number of Cal Grant C
22awards each year as were made in the 2000-01 fiscal year.
23(2) The maximum award amount and the total amount of funding
24shall be determined each year in the annual Budget Act, but, if
25sufficient funds are available, the annual award amount of Cal
26Grant C
awards shall be no less than three thousand nine dollars
27($3,009) and no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per
28award.
29(c) The commission may use criteria it deems appropriate in
30selecting students to receive grants for occupational or technical
31training and shall give special consideration to the social and
32economic situations of the students applying for these grants, giving
33additional weight to disadvantaged applicants, applicants who face
34economic hardship, and applicants who face particular barriers to
P4 1employment. Criteria to be considered for these purposes shall
2include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
3(1) Family income and household size.
4(2) Student’s or the students’
parent’s household status,
5including whether the student is a single parent or child of a single
6parent.
7(3) The employment status of the applicant and whether the
8applicant is unemployed, giving greater weight to the long-term
9unemployed.
10(d) The Cal Grant C award recipients shall be eligible for
11renewal of their grants until they have completed their occupational
12or technical training in conformance with terms prescribed by the
13commission. A determination by the commission for a subsequent
14award year that the program under which a Cal Grant C award was
15initially awarded is no longer deemed to receive priority shall not
16affect an award recipient’s renewal. In no case shall the grants
17exceed two calendar years.
18(e) Cal Grant C awards may be used for institutional fees,
19charges, and other costs, including tuition, plus training-related
20costs, such as special clothing, local transportation, required tools,
21equipment, supplies, books, and living expenses. In determining
22the individual award amounts, the commission shall take into
23account the financial means available to the student to fund his or
24her course of study and costs of attendance as well as other state
25and federal programs available to the applicant.
26(f) (1) To ensure alignment with the state’s dynamic economic
27needs, the commission, in consultation with appropriate state and
28federal agencies, including the Economic and Workforce
29Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the
30California Community Colleges and the California Workforce
31Investment
Board, shall identify areas of occupational and technical
32training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards. The
33commission, to the extent feasible, shall also consult with
34representatives of the state’s leading competitive and emerging
35industry clusters, workforce professionals, and career technical
36educators, to determine which occupational training programs and
37industry clusters should be prioritized.
38(2) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the areas of
39occupational and technical training developed pursuant to
P5 1paragraph (1) shall be regularly reviewed and updated at least
2every five years, beginning in 2012.
3(B) By January 1, 2016, the commission shall update the priority
4areas of occupational and technical training.
5(3) (A) The commission shall give priority in granting Cal
6Grant C awards to students pursuing occupational or technical
7training in areas that meet two of the following criteria pertaining
8to job quality:
9(i) High employer need or demand
for the specific skills offered
10in the program.
11(ii) High employment growth in the occupational field or
12industry cluster for which the student is being trained.
13(iii) High employment salary and wage projections for workers
14employed in the occupations for which they are being trained.
15(iv) The occupation or training program is part of a
16well-articulated career pathway to a job providing economic
17security.
18(B) At least one of two of the criteria to be met pursuant to
19subparagraph (A) shall be specified in clause (iii) or (iv) of that
20subparagraph.
21(g) The commission shall
determine areas of occupational or
22technical training that meet the criteria described in paragraph (3)
23of subdivision (f) in consultation with the Employment
24Development Department, the Economic and Workforce
25Development Division of the Office of the Chancellor of the
26California Community Colleges, and the California Workforce
27
Investment Board using projections available through the Labor
28Market Information Data Library. The commission may supplement
29the analyses of the Employment Development Department’s Labor
30Market Information Data Library with the labor market analyses
31developed by the Economic and Workforce Development Division
32of the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community
33Colleges and the California Workforce Investment Board, as well
34as the projections of occupational shortages and skills gap
35developed by industry leaders. The commission shall publish, and
36retain, on its Internet Web site a current list of the areas of
37occupational or technical training that meet the criteria described
38in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f), and update this list as necessary.
39(h) The commission shall examine the graduation rates and job
40placement
data of eligible programs. Commencing with the
P6 12014-15 academic year, the commission shall give priority to Cal
2Grant C award applicants seeking to enroll in programs that rate
3high in graduation rates and job placement data.
4(i) (1) The commission shall consult with the Employment
5Development Department, the Office of the Chancellor of the
6California Community Colleges, the California Workforce
7Investment Board, and the local workforce investment boards to
8develop a plan to publicize the existence of the grant award
9program to California’s long-term unemployed to be used by those
10consulting agencies when they come in contact with members of
11the population who are likely to be experiencing long-term
12unemployment.
13(2) The commission shall consult with the
Workforce Services
14Branch of the Employment Development Department, the Office
15of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, the
16California Workforce Investment Board, and the local workforce
17investment boards to develop a plan to make students receiving
18awards aware of job search and placement services available
19through the Employment Development Department and the local
20workforce investment boards.
21(j) (1) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government
22Code, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit a report to the
23Legislature on the outcomes of the Cal Grant C program on or
24before April 1, 2015, and on or before April 1 of each
25odd-numbered year thereafter. This report shall include, but not
26necessarily be limited to, information on all of thebegin delete following, with begin insert
following:end insert
27information on awards that are reserved for the long-term
28unemployed provided separately:end delete
29(A) The age, gender, and segment of attendance for recipients
30in two prior award years.
31(B) The occupational and technical training program categories
32prioritized.
33(C) The number and percentage of students who received
34selection priority as defined in paragraph (3) of subdivision (f).
35(D) The extent to which recipients in these award years were
36successfully placed in jobs that meet local, regional, or state
37workforce needs.
38(2) For the report due on or before April 1, 2015, the
Legislative
39Analyst’s Office shall include data for two additional prior award
40years and shall compare the mix of occupational and technical
P7 1training programs and institutions in which Cal Grant C award
2recipients enrolled before and after implementation of subdivision
3(f).
4(3) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall
5be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government
6
Code.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
8this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
9local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
10pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
114 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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