Bill Text: CA AB1307 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Student financial aid: Cal Grant program.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-5)
Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-21 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1307 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB1307-Enrolled.html
|
Enrolled
September 13, 2019 |
|
Passed
IN
Senate
September 09, 2019 |
|
Passed
IN
Assembly
September 10, 2019 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
September 05, 2019 |
|
Amended
IN
Senate
June 24, 2019 |
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 21, 2019 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1307
| Introduced by Assembly Member Blanca Rubio (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Burke, Carrillo, Cervantes, Choi, Cooper, Gloria, Gonzalez, Medina, Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, and Voepel) (Coauthors: Senators Chang, Hertzberg, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, and Wilk) |
February 22, 2019 |
An act to amend Sections 66021.2 and 69432 of the Education Code, relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1307, Blanca Rubio.
Student financial aid: Cal Grant program.
Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law specifies the amounts of the maximum Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending private nonprofit postsecondary institutions of higher education and private for-profit postsecondary educational institutions that are regionally accredited, as specified. Beginning with the
2020–21 award year, the maximum tuition award is either $9,084 or $8,056, depending upon whether the number of new unduplicated transfer students accepted by private nonprofit postsecondary educational institutions who have been given associate degree for transfer commitments, as defined, in the prior award year meet and exceed specified targets.
This bill would change, in accordance with a prescribed formula, the maximum Cal Grant award for tuition for a new recipient attending an independent institution of higher education, commencing with the 2020–21 award year. This bill would provide that the award amount for a student attending an independent institution of
higher education may be determined in the annual Budget Act if the independent institutions of higher education, as a group, do not accept the specified number of transfer students who have been given associate degree for transfer commitments.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(a) California’s regionally accredited, private nonprofit colleges and universities, also referred to in the Education Code as independent institutions of higher education, are recognized by the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education as a sector which provides capacity, regional access, and choice to California students in seeking a college opportunity that best fits their academic and career goals.
(b) Private nonprofit colleges and universities help the state meet its higher education goals and workforce needs to ensure California
has well-prepared workers as well as access to cutting-edge research and technology for the future.
(c) Private nonprofit colleges and universities annually enroll approximately 25 percent of the state’s four-year, undergraduate students and approximately 55 percent of the state’s graduate students, making that sector a significant contributor to meeting the state’s needs. Students in private nonprofit colleges and universities graduate faster, with 53 percent completing their degrees in four years, thus moving into jobs faster. Cal Grant students in the sector do even better, with 61 percent graduating in four years.
(d) The state of California will face a shortfall of over one million college graduates necessary for the jobs of the future according to the Public Policy Institute
of California. To meet this demand, all higher education sectors need to help. The private nonprofit sector currently graduates over 40,000 undergraduate students, or 21 percent of the total from all four-year institutions and, as such, must remain accessible for students in the future.
(e) In 2018, almost 28,000 Cal Grant students were enrolled in California’s regionally accredited private nonprofit colleges and universities. The Cal Grant program effectively and successfully helps California’s private nonprofit colleges and universities to recruit, retain, and graduate historically underrepresented students from low-income California families. Fifty-one percent of these Cal Grant students are the first in their families to attend college.
(f) Cal Grant students in our private
nonprofit colleges and universities reflect the diversity of California. Sixty-eight percent are people of color or from underserved populations that deserve access to college.
(g) The private nonprofit sector enrolls 8,000 California community college transfer students annually, and many have adopted the associate degree for transfer commitment to strengthen pathways between the two-year and private four-year institutions.
(h) The 2018–19 state budget fully funds the maximum award at $9,084 for students attending the private nonprofit sector but does not reinstate the prior statute to ensure that the grant level retained its actual value after inflation. This new maximum award is the same as that set in 1999 even though cuts and inflation have reduced the value of the award to
48 percent of its value in current dollars.
(i) Predictable and stable funding formulas and eligibility requirements ensure that the state maximizes its investment by allowing families to better plan and pay for higher education, in addition to ensuring private nonprofit colleges and universities can and do serve all Californians seeking access through this sector.
(j) Legislative action is needed to establish predictable state financial aid with a viable formula in state statute for California students attending private nonprofit colleges and universities, so they and their families can plan for their higher education. This would provide for equity and consistency in funding levels that students in the state’s public universities currently have.
SEC. 2.
Section 66021.2 of the Education Code is amended to read:66021.2.
Consistent with the state’s historic commitment to provide educational opportunity by ensuring both student access to and selection of an institution of higher education for students with financial need, the long-term policy of the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program established pursuant to Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 shall be as follows:(a) Commencing with the 2001–02 academic year and every year thereafter, an applicant for a Cal Grant A or B award shall receive an award that is not in excess of the financial need amount determined by the Student Aid Commission pursuant to Section 69432.9 if the applicant complies with all of the following requirements:
(1) Demonstrates financial need under the criteria adopted pursuant to Section 69432.9.
(2) Attains a grade point average, as defined in Section 69432.7, meeting the requirements of Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42.
(3) Complies with each of the eligibility criteria applicable to the type of Cal Grant award for which the applicant is applying.
(b) (1) (A) The maximum Cal Grant A award for a student attending the University of California or the California State University shall equal the mandatory systemwide fees in the segment attended by the student, plus the access award specified in Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465) of Chapter 1.7 of Part 42 if the student meets qualifying criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
69465.
(B) The maximum Cal Grant B award for a student who is attending the University of California, the California State University, or the California Community Colleges when not enrolled in upper division coursework as described in paragraph (2), shall equal the mandatory systemwide fees in the segment attended by the student, except for community college students who receive waivers from the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, plus the access award calculated as specified in Article 3 (commencing with Section 69435) or, if the student meets the qualifying criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 69465, Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465), of Chapter 1.7 of Part 42, except that in the first year of enrollment in a qualifying institution, the maximum award shall be only for the amount of the access award.
(2) (A) The
maximum Cal Grant A award for a community college student enrolled in upper division coursework of a baccalaureate degree program, described in Article 3 (commencing with Section 78040) of Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7, shall equal the per unit fees charged for the upper division coursework for the academic term, plus the access award specified in Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465) of Chapter 1.7 of Part 42 if the student meets the qualifying criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 69465.
(B) The maximum Cal Grant B award for a community college student enrolled in upper division coursework of a baccalaureate degree program, described in Article 3 (commencing with Section 78040) of Chapter 1 of Part 48 of Division 7, shall equal the per unit fees charged for the upper division coursework for the academic term, plus the access award calculated as specified in Article 3 (commencing with Section 69435) or, if the student meets
the qualifying criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 69465, Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465) of Chapter 1.7 of Part 42.
(c) The maximum Cal Grant award for a student attending a nonpublic institution shall be as follows:
(1) The maximum Cal Grant A award shall equal the tuition award level established in the Budget Act of 2000, or the amount as
adjusted in subsequent annual budget acts.
(2) The maximum Cal Grant B award shall equal the amount of the tuition award as established in the Budget Act of 2000, or the amount as adjusted in subsequent annual budget acts, plus the amount of the access costs specified in Section 69435, except that, in the first year of enrollment in a qualifying institution, the maximum award shall be only for the amount of the access award.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (1) and (2), for the 2020–21 award year and each award year thereafter, the maximum Cal Grant award for tuition for a student attending an independent institution of higher education, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 66010, shall be set and maintained at 80 percent of the sum of the General Fund share of the California State University
marginal cost of instruction and the maximum Cal Grant award for tuition at the California State University system. The Department of Finance shall certify the current General Fund share of the California State University marginal cost of instruction.
(d) Commencing with the 2000–01 academic year, and each academic year thereafter, the Cal Grant C award shall be used only for occupational or technical training.
(e) Commencing with the 2000–01 academic year, and each academic year thereafter, the Cal Grant T award shall be used only for one academic year of full-time attendance in a program of professional preparation that has been approved by the California
Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
(f) An institution of higher education in this state that participates in the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program shall not reduce its level of per capita need-based institutional financial aid to undergraduate students, excluding loans, below the total level awarded in the 2000–01 academic year.
(g) The implementation of the policy set forth in this section shall maintain a balance between the state’s policy goals of ensuring student access to and selection of an institution of higher education for students with financial need and academic merit.
(h) It is the policy of the State of California that the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program supplement the federal Pell Grant program.
(i) An award under the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program shall not guarantee admission to an institution of higher education or admission to a specific campus or program.
SEC. 3.
Section 69432 of the Education Code is amended to read:69432.
(a) (1) Cal Grant Program awards shall be known as “Cal Grant A Entitlement Awards,” “Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards,” “California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards,” “Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards,” “Cal Grant C Awards,” and “Cal Grant T Awards.”(2) For purposes of this section, “associate degree for transfer commitment” means a commitment by an independent institution of higher education that chooses to accept the California Community College associate degree for transfer pursuant to Section 66749.6.
(b) Maximum award amounts for students at independent institutions of higher education, private for-profit postsecondary educational institutions, and for
Cal Grant C and T awards shall be referenced in the annual Budget Act. Maximum award amounts for Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending public institutions shall be referenced in the annual Budget Act.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), and subdivision (c) of Section 66021.2, commencing with the 2013–14 award year, the maximum tuition award amounts for Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending private for-profit postsecondary educational institutions shall be four thousand dollars ($4,000).
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of this subdivision, subdivision (b) of this section, and subdivision (c) of Section 66021.2, commencing with the
2018–19 award year, the maximum tuition award amounts for Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending private for-profit postsecondary educational institutions accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges shall be nine thousand eighty-four dollars ($9,084) for new recipients, unless otherwise specified in the Budget Act of 2018.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of this section and subdivision (c) of Section 66021.2, the maximum tuition award amounts for Cal Grant A and B awards for students attending independent institutions of higher education shall be as follows:
(A) For the 2018–19
and 2019–20 award years, nine thousand eighty-four dollars ($9,084) for new recipients.
(B) For the 2020–21 award year and each year thereafter, for new recipients, the amount determined pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 66021.2.
(2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1), award amounts for new recipients at independent institutions of higher education may be determined in the annual Budget Act if these institutions, as a group, accept less than the following number of new unduplicated transfer students who have been given associate degree for transfer commitments in the prior award
year:
(A) For the 2020–21 award year, 2,000 students in the prior award year.
(B) For the 2021–22 award year, 3,000 students in the prior award year.
(C) For the 2022–23 award year, 3,500 students in the prior award year.
(D) For the 2023–24 award year and each award year thereafter, the target number of students specified in subdivision
(h).
(e) The renewal award amount for a student whose initial award is subject to a maximum award amount specified in this section shall be calculated pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 69433.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that an independent institution of higher education make a good faith effort to make the process for transferring from the California Community Colleges easier for resident students and a decision determining the maximum award amounts made pursuant to this section for students
attending an independent institution of higher education will be made with consideration of the effort of the institution to make that process easier.
(g) The association representing the largest number of independent institutions of higher education shall submit a report relative to the implementation of this section to the Department of Finance and the Legislature, in conformity with Section 9795 of the Government Code, on or before April 15 of each year.
(h) For the 2023–24 award year and each award year thereafter, the target number of new unduplicated recipients accepted by independent institutions of higher education who have been given associate degree for transfer commitments shall be equal to the number of new transfer students attending independent institutions of higher education who were given associate degree for transfer commitments in the prior award year, adjusted
by the percentage change in the total number of new transfer students from the year two years prior, compared to the prior year.
(i) For purposes of this section, “independent institution of higher education” has the same meaning as in Section 66010.
