AB 3153: Student financial aid: Cal Grants: summer term students.

Existing law, the 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. The program prohibits an applicant from receiving one or a combination of program awards in excess of the amount equivalent to the award level for a total of a 4-year period of full-time attendance in an undergraduate program, except as provided, and specifies that the aggregate amount a student may receive in a 4-year period may not be increased as a result of accelerating his or her progress to a degree by attending summer terms, sessions, or quarters. The program provides that Cal Grant A awards and Cal Grant B awards may be renewed for a total of the equivalent of 4 years of full-time attendance in an undergraduate program, except as provided.

This bill would, notwithstanding the provision prohibiting a student from receiving a larger total amount of aid by accelerating his or her progress towards a degree by attending summer school terms, sessions, or quarters, except for students who have transferred to a 4-year higher education institution from a community college, make students who are eligible to receive a Cal Grant A award or Cal Grant B award eligible to receive a Summer Cal Grant award, in addition to receiving a Cal Grant A award or Cal Grant B award, for a total of 2 summer terms of up to 9 units of enrollment, or the quarter equivalent, per term for purposes of pursuing timely completion of a baccalaureate degree at a public postsecondary educational institution. The bill would, however, make students who have transferred to a 4-year qualifying institution from a community college and who are eligible to receive a Cal Grant A or Cal Grant B award eligible to receive a Summer Cal Grant award, in addition to receiving a Cal Grant A award or a Cal Grant B award, for one summer term of up to 9 units of enrollment, or the quarter equivalent. The bill would provide that Summer Cal Grant awards shall not be subject to or count against the 4 years of full-time attendance eligibility limitation that applies for purposes of Cal Grant A award and Cal Grant B award renewals.