AB 370: Student financial aid: Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards.

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 limits the number of Competitive Cal Grant A and B awards that may be granted in an academic year to 25,750.

This bill, commencing with the 201819 award year, would require the commission to calculate a target for awards to be paid in an award year, estimate a take rate for awards by dividing the total number of awards paid by the total number of offers made during the 3 award years immediately preceding that award year, and estimate the number of award offers that the commission may make to achieve the target for awards to be paid, as specified. The bill would also authorize the commission to exceed the 25,750 award limit in an academic year when the number of acceptances exceeds 25,750, under specified conditions.