69520.5.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that the grants provided to students pursuant to this section shall be used to reduce the financial burden of the total cost of tuition by providing students with access to funds for food.(b) Commencing with the 2024–25 academic year, the commission shall establish the Food Support Pilot Program for a four-year period to provide food support grants to qualifying students who submit a California Dream Act application. Each student who meets the Food Support Pilot Program eligibility requirements pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be guaranteed an award. For each year of the Food Support Pilot Program, an individual award shall equal the maximum amount allocated to one CalFresh recipient during that
year.
(c) The commission shall allocate the award on a semester or quarterly basis to the qualifying institution if all of the following are met:
(1) The student has submitted a complete California Dream Act application, submitted or postmarked no later than March 2 of each year.
(2) The student demonstrates financial need by having an expected family contribution of equal to or less than the qualifying expected family contribution for the Federal Pell Grant Program (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070a).
(3) The student is pursuing an undergraduate academic program of at least two academic years that is offered by a qualifying institution.
(4) The student is enrolled at least part time.
(5) The student maintains good academic standing with the qualifying institution at which the student is enrolled.
(d) The commission shall notify students who meet the eligibility requirements pursuant to subdivision (c) of their receipt of the award.
(e) The food support grant may be renewed for a total of the equivalent of two years or four years of full-time attendance in an associate degree or undergraduate program, provided that the student still meets the Food Support Pilot Program eligibility requirements pursuant to subdivision (c).
(f) The commission shall disburse funds to qualifying institutions and each institution shall disburse the funds in accordance with the provisions set forth in the institutional agreement between the commission and the
institution for Cal Grants pursuant to Section 69432.8.
(g) (1) A qualifying institution, upon the receipt of funds from the commission for purposes of this section, shall provide the funds to the student and shall not reduce the institutional aid offer of a student who receives a grant pursuant to this section unless the student’s gift aid exceeds the student’s annual cost of attendance.
(2) The institution may reduce the institutional financial aid offer of a student who is eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this section by no more than the amount of the student’s gift aid that is in excess of the student’s annual cost of attendance.
(h) Beginning on or before December 1, one year after moneys are appropriated by the Legislature for purposes of this section, and annually thereafter, the commission shall report
to the Legislature the number of students who qualified for the funding disaggregated by qualifying institution, age, gender, and race/ethnicity.
(i) The commission shall conduct a student survey in the third year of the pilot program and upon completion of the pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of the Food Support Pilot Program. The survey shall address, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) How students elected to use their grants received pursuant to this section.
(2) If qualifying institutions reduced institutional aid pursuant to subdivision (g) and if so, by how much.
(3) The barriers to administering the pilot program for either the commission or qualifying institutions.
(4) Any recommendations for the improvement of the pilot program so long as the recommendations further the intent of the pilot program.
(j) The commission shall report the results of the student survey described in subdivision (i) to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review on or before July 1, 2027, and on or before July 1, 2029. A report submitted pursuant to this section shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(k) This section shall become operative only upon an appropriation of funds for this purpose by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or in another statute.
(l) As used in this article the following definitions apply:
(1) “Academic year” means July 1 to June 30, inclusive. The start date of a session shall determine the academic year in which it is included.
(2) “Cost of attendance” means the student’s tuition and fees, books and supplies, living expenses, transportation expenses, and any other student expenses used to calculate a student’s financial need for purposes of student aid programs under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.).
(3) “Expected family contribution” means a student’s expected family contribution calculated according to the federal methodology pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 69506 as established by Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1070 et seq.).
(4) “Institutional financial aid” means financial aid that is paid for by the institution of higher education from its funds and the recipient of the aid is selected by the institution.
(5) “Qualifying institutions” means any public postsecondary educational institution in the state that receives, or benefits from, state-funded financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state-funded student financial assistance.
(6) “Part time,” for purposes of eligibility, means 6 to 11 semester units, inclusive, or the equivalent.
(m) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section shall become inoperative on July 15, 2029, and as of January 1, 2030, is repealed.