Existing law, known as the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. The act requires that the award be used only for tuition, student fees, and access costs in a for-credit instructional program that is not less than one academic year in length. Access grants are awarded in a student’s first academic year. The act provides that not more than 2% of new Cal Grant B recipients be eligible for payments for tuition or fees, or both, in their first academic year of attendance.
This bill would increase, during the 2009–10 academic year, the percentage of new Cal Grant B recipients eligible for
payments for tuition or fees, or both, in their first academic year of attendance to 25%.
The bill would increase this percentage to 50% for the 2010–11 academic year, to 75% for the 2011–2012 academic year. The bill would also provide that commencing with the 2012–13 academic year, all new Cal Grant B recipients enrolling for the first time in an institution of postsecondary education would be eligible for payments of for tuition or fees, or both, during their first academic year.