Legislature Set to OK Major Increase in College Aid

California is poised to adopt the largest state college financial aid program in the country, one that would offer grants to all qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates, even those with just a C average.

Under terms of an agreement announced by Gov. Gray Davis and legislative leaders and expected to go to a vote in the Legislature shortly, the state would vastly expand its existing Cal Grants program to provide thousands more low-income students with the money to go to college.

The measure, which could cost as much as $1.2 billion, also would guarantee grants to cover college fees for many middle-class high school graduates who make better than average grades, and give extra help to community college transfer students. As many as a third of all California high school graduates eventually could benefit, state officials said.

In essence, the state would be promising high school students whose families meet income requirements that if they get a B average, the state will pay their Cal State or University of California fees, or $9,700 toward a private school. And even students who can only manage Cs will at least get a shot at a higher education. The plan could double the number of people who receive state aid and end the state’s practice of rationing grants in lean budget years.

It would be a program sharply at odds with recent national trends in college financial aid, which have tended to favor wealthier students. In committing large sums to helping poor students afford college, California would be harking back to education policies of the Civil Rights era.

In California, “income is not going to be an impediment to college--not just in theory, but as a matter of statutory right,” said John Mockler, Davis’ interim secretary of education.

By guaranteeing aid, said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), the state will attempt to create a new college-going culture in high schools. “No longer will kids think, ‘What difference does it make? I can’t afford to go to college,’ ” he said.

The reformed Cal Grant program will be packaged with a new, smaller merit aid program proposed by Davis. That program provides $118 million in merit scholarships of $1,000 to the highest performers on the Stanford 9 exam and $2,500 to the highest performers on Advanced Placement exams in math and science.

The cost of the new Cal Grant program could dwarf current financial aid spending in other states, federal officials said. Nationwide, the combined amount of all states’ current spending on student grants and other aid totals only $3.5 billion, said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Frank Holleman. The federal government’s main college grant program, called Pell grants, costs $7.6 billion annually.

The measure consists of reforms to two major California college aid grants: Cal Grant A and Cal Grant B.

The revamped Cal Grant A would target poor and moderate-income students. Those students would be guaranteed grants covering all their fees at California State universities or the University of California, provided they have a 3.0 grade-point average or above.

At Cal State, the amount of this grant would total $1,428 yearly, and for UC students, it would total $3,429. Students who choose to attend private institutions could receive a Cal Grant A of up to $9,700 toward fees.

Students and their families must fill out a lengthy federal financial aid form to prove they have sufficient financial need to get the award. For Cal Grant A, families of four earning up to $64,100 yearly could qualify.

The revamped Cal Grant B would target poor students with lower grades.

Those students would be guaranteed more than $1,500 to cover living costs and books for their first year in college, provided they earn at least a 2.0 grade-point average in high school. Families of four earning up to $33,700 yearly could qualify for this grant.

The idea of Cal Grant B is to give those students a second chance: If they prove they can make progress in college, they would be eligible for more aid. Those who advance to a second year at a university, or who transfer to a university from a community college, would then qualify for a full package of aid, including a stipend for living costs and a grant to cover fees.

Both programs are geared toward students who go straight to college from high school and transfer students. The aim is to provide a simple, easy-to-understand incentive for students to meet basic academic standards for college, and thereby increase college enrollment.

The measure was pushed by a bipartisan group of legislators who forged a compromise with the governor. They agreed to support his merit scholarship plan as long as it was tied to the Cal Grant expansion. Leaders included Burton and state Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), state Sen. Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno) and Assemblyman Rod Pacheco (R-Riverside).

“Everyone is using the same word here, and the word is ‘historic,’ ” said Pacheco.

“This is what made California great--our education system,” Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg said. “Now, California is on the cutting edge again.”

Because the state routinely has not set aside enough money to meet demand for Cal Grants, nearly 517,000 eligible students were denied aid between 1993 and 1999.

One of those was Carmen Juarez, 23, a graduate of Belmont High School in Los Angeles. Juarez is the daughter of a single mother from Mexico who worked in a factory. She is the first in her family to go to college.

Although Juarez was accepted to UC Irvine and was eligible for a Cal Grant based on income, she wasn’t able to go. The state denied her Cal Grant application because grants were rationed in the year she applied, and only about a fifth of eligible applicants received them.

Although Juarez eventually attended Cal State Los Angeles, she said she welcomes a program that will give future students more college options than she had--even if they are poor.

“It’s good,” she said. “I had a lot of friends who didn’t go to college because of money, and I didn’t go to my first-choice school.”

California’s program would contrast with trends in financial aid that have been sharply criticized by scholars in recent years.

For much of the 1980s and 1990s, the purchasing power of Pell grants slid downward relative to rising college costs. At the same time, many new state and institutional financial aid programs have tended to favor middle- and upper-middle-class students.

This is partly because many new financial aid programs are based on high grades and test scores: Since high grades and high income tend to go together, such programs nearly always benefit wealthier students disproportionately.

Another new program, President Clinton’s Hope Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, a $3.5-billion program, benefits moderate- and middle-income families more than the poor, who pay little or no income tax.

Under Clinton, Pell grants and work study programs have been increased, but most experts agree that poor students have not made up the lost ground.

Poor students today are not only less likely than middle- and upper-middle-income students to go to college, they are far more likely to drop out of college if they do go, and they are more likely to go to community colleges, rather than universities.

One of the most troubling facts about higher education remains as true today as 20 years ago: High-income students with only average ability are considerably more likely to pursue higher education than low-income students with high ability, said Morton Owen Schapiro, an expert on financial aid and the president of Williams College in Massachusetts.

“Everyone has gotten on the bandwagon to give merit aid, which serves largely to support people who don’t need it,” Schapiro said. California’s program, by contrast, “is exactly what’s needed,” he said.

California historically has tried to provide access to students from all backgrounds through low fees at numerous public colleges and universities.

Nonetheless, California ranks 39th in the nation in college-going, said Tom Mortenson, senior scholar at the Center for Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. Only 51.3% of its high school graduates go to college, compared with a national average of 57.2%, he said.

California faces particular challenges in its efforts to increase college opportunities. Many of its students are from poor immigrant families and have little familiarity with higher education. Latinos, the state’s fastest-growing ethnic group, have the lowest college-going rates.

At Roosevelt High School, where many students are low-income Latinos from immigrant families, college counselor Loretta Hultman said the measure would make a huge difference.

“I see students here who are earning a 3.0 and taking AP classes,” she said. “They are in bad situations, or they are the first in their families to go to college, and their parents have only a fourth-grade education. In my opinion, these kids are wondrous. They deserve our help.”

John Orendorff, a counselor at Belmont High School, said he will be able to tell students: Get the grades and you will get the money.

“We see kids here just giving up and not trying because they are not understanding the opportunities for them out there,” he said. “This will make it measurable and obtainable. Kids will understand it . . . and they will shoot for it.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Eligibility by Income

The following figures represent the maximum income families could earn and still be considered for the proposed new Cal Grants.

Besides income, eligibility depends on a variety of financial criteria, such as number of children in college. Cal Grant A is targeted at moderate-income students with B averages and aims to cover their college fees. Cal Grant B is aimed at poor students with at least a

C average; it offers a modest stipend to start college and helps with fees later on.

*

College Bound

Officials hope the expansion of financial aid will increase the rate of college enrollment in California. The state ranked 39th in the nation in the percentage of high school graduates going on to college in 1998.

*

Sources: California Student Aid Commission; Council for Opportunity in Education