Copyright© 2000 by School Services of California, Inc.

Volume 13                    For Publication Date: August 18, 2000                   No. 18

Community College Students to Benefit
From New Financial Aid Proposal

It has just been reported that after weeks of negotiations the Legislature and Governor Davis have reached agreement on a plan to guarantee college financial aid to low and moderate income high school students who show academic promise. According to the Sacramento Bee, the sweeping deal, which still must be given final approval by the Legislature before August 31, 2000 and signed by the governor, will likely lead to enactment of the governor’s own merit scholarship plan for high school students.

The Governor was quoted calling the agreement historic. "For the first time in California, every student at every high school who works hard to maintain grades high enough to gain admission to college or university will be guaranteed financial aid to pursue an advanced degree."

If given final approval, the deal would resolve a sticky political deadlock. Last month, the Legislature approved both Davis’ merit scholarship plan and Senator Deborah Ortiz’s Cal Grant expansion bill, SB 1644. Both bills were held in the Senate and not actually sent to the governor’s desk pending further negotiations. The governor’s merit scholarship bill, SB 1688, would allocate $118 million toward $1,000 college scholarships for students with achievement test scores in the top 5 percent statewide or the top 10 percent at their high schools – regardless of their financial need.

Because of amendments added by the Legislature to SB 1688, Davis’ merit plan can’t take effect unless he also signs the Ortiz bill, SB 1644. As originally passed by the Legislature, the Ortiz measure would have created a program to guarantee Cal Grant college scholarships for all eligible students who demonstrate both academic promise and financial need. Under the new compromise, the Ortiz plan appears to have been somewhat scaled back and would guarantee Cal Grant money to every graduating high school senior and some college transfer students (benefit to community colleges) who meet both financial need requirements and minimum grade point averages. In addition, more than 22,000 additional Cal Grant scholarships would be available to other students, including those re-entering schools.

The guarantee of financial aid support created by SB 1644 would not take effect until the 2001-02 budget year. The exact cost of the plan to expand the Cal Grant program has yet to be determined, although by some estimates it could reach hundreds of millions of dollars in future years. According to the Governor’s office, total Cal Grant spending could exceed $1 billion under the plan by 2006.

The Chancellor’s Office will provide greater detail on the exact benefits to community college students in upcoming releases to the system once this historic deal has been finalized.