Grant Aid

In case there was any doubt, Governor Newsom’s revised state budget plan for 2020-21 confirms the devastating blow that the COVID-19 pandemic will deliver to California’s public colleges and universities absent federal investment. Yet by protecting the state Cal Grant program, and directing colleges to minimize impacts on programs and services for underrepresented students...

Thanks to California’s 2019-20 state budget, up to 15,250 more nontraditional college students will get a Cal Grant award each year – a big and much-needed increase to grant availability in a program that turns away hundreds of thousands of eligible low- and middle-income students each year. However, if past is prologue, many of these students still won’t...

The Coalition of Californians for College Affordability works to strengthen need-based financial aid in California so that all students can afford to attend and complete college, allowing the state’s workforce to remain competitive.

Experts across California agree that college costs hold students back from completing college or completing it in a timely way, keep students from focusing on their studies, and contribute to burdensome levels of debt. With California Governor Gavin Newsom and the State Legislature both keenly interested in reforming California’s financial aid system to reduce these barriers,...

Report documents clear agreement among higher education experts that college affordability challenges have a wide range of negative implications for California students, and low-income and underrepresented students in particular. Unpacking California College Affordability: Experts Weigh in on Strengths, Challenges, and Implications summarizes interviews with 22 experts representing...

Statement of Program Director Deborah Frankle Cochrane on Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2010-11 budget.