State Budget Maintains Funding for Cal Grants

Statement of Deborah Frankle Cochrane

Program Director, The Institute for College Access & Success

After months of arduous budget negotiations, the California legislature today passed an 18-month budget that maintains the state’s investment in student aid. This budget protects Cal Grants from attempts to cut both eligibility and grant levels, which would have had a devastating impact on California students. Cal Grants are the state’s primary source of financial aid and helped 300,000 students pay for college last year.

This move comes just days after President Obama signed the federal economic stimulus package into law, which includes the largest Pell Grant increase in the program’s history. Together, these commitments to college affordability will help Californians get the education and skills they need to help our state stay economically competitive in these difficult times.