AB 376: Student financial aid: Cal Grant C: driver training programs: commercial motor vehicles.

Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement awards, the California Community College Expanded 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 these awards for participating students attending qualifying institutions. Existing law requires a Cal Grant C award to be used only for occupational or technical training in a course of not less than 4 months. Existing law requires the commission to consult with appropriate state and federal agencies to identify areas of occupational and technical training for which students may use Cal Grant C awards and to regularly review and update those areas at least every 5 years, as provided.

Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles, no later than June 5, 2020, to adopt regulations related to entry-level driver training requirements for drivers of commercial motor vehicles, including specified minimum hours of behind-the-wheel training and in compliance with the requirements of certain federal regulations.

This bill would additionally authorize a Cal Grant C award to be used for entry-level driver training programs of less than 4 months that comply with those driver training regulations and are offered at qualifying institutions. The bill would require the Student Aid Commission to classify an institution as a qualifying institution if its driver training program has a graduation rate of at least 30%, is listed on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration training provider registry, and has been approved by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028.

The Cal Grant Reform Act revises and recasts the provisions establishing and governing the existing Cal Grant Program into a new Cal Grant Program. Existing law specifies that the act becomes operative only if General Fund moneys over the multiyear forecasts beginning in the 202425 fiscal year are available to support ongoing augmentations and actions, and if funding is provided in the annual Budget Act to implement the act. Under existing law, if the act becomes operative, an otherwise eligible student enrolled in a qualifying occupational and technical training program who would have been eligible for aid under the Cal Grant C Program would be eligible to receive a prorated Cal Grant award as specified in the Budget Act.

If the Cal Grant Reform Act becomes operative, this bill would additionally authorize, until January 1, 2028, an otherwise eligible student enrolled in an entry-level driver training program of less than 4 months that complies with those driver training regulations and is offered at a qualifying institution to receive a prorated Cal Grant award as specified in the Budget Act.

This bill would require the Student Aid Commission, in consultation with the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education, to submit a report to the Legislature, on or before April 1, 2027, on the above-described authorizations to use a Cal Grant award for an entry-level driver training program, as provided.