AB 1241: Student financial aid: Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pilot Program: study.

Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, and the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education, as 2 of the 4 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education.

This bill would require the commission, in consultation with the California State University and the University of California, Legislative Analysts Office, to establish a Pay-It-Forward Financial Aid Program conduct a study of the effects of enacting, in future legislation, a Pay it Forward, Pay it Back Pilot Program that allows would allow students to enroll at a California State University or University of California campus without paying upfront tuition, fees, or room and board, and instead requiring would require participating students to pay, upon graduation or disenrollment and employment, a percentage of their annual adjusted gross income to the state for a number of years, as determined by the commission. The bill would require those collected payments to be deposited into the Pay-It-Forward Financial Aid Fund, which the bill would establish. The bill would require moneys in the fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to pay the tuition, fees, and room and board expenses of future participating students. The bill would require, commencing with the 202829 academic year, each California State University and University of California campus to offer the program to their students, and would require, commencing with the 203031 academic year, the California State University and the University of California to ensure that at least 10,000 students per year participate in the program. specified. The bill would require the commission to submit a report on the study of the pilot program to the Assembly Committee on Higher Education and the Senate Committee on Education on or before September 30, 2027. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on September 30, 2030, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2031.