Cal Grant

We have another free college proposal, which is a grant system where they'll give matching grants to states that offer state grants to their students.

So in California, we have the Cal Grant.

And I know there's like Bright Futures and Georgia has some grants and a lot of states offer grants.

And so there's talk of a federal government grant to match it.

But in essence, for someone who just doesn't know and as someone who's first generation, I definitely had no idea what financial aid was besides maybe you got scholarships.

But We have Cal Grants for different types of individuals.

What's your elevator pitch when you talk to someone about the work that you do?

Yeah, you know, in California, we are so lucky to have the largest financial aid system in the nation.

So for someone who's considering that or maybe has not considered that as an option, community college, how does financial aid change? Let's say they start to think this as a real option.

I'll do it for two years and then transfer.

I know I've heard some questions as well, like, am I using up my financial aid? Can you talk us through what that would mean if someone wants to consider that option? What still remains in terms of access to Cal Grants and financial aid if for a community college student once they transfer to a UCCSU or a private institution.

It's very important that families understand that federal aid right now, and remember laws change all the time, but right now federal aid has a six-year maximum.

We have another free college proposal, which is a grant system where they'll give matching grants to states that offer state grants to their students.

So in California, we have the Cal Grant.

And I know there's like Bright Futures and Georgia has some grants and a lot of states offer grants.

And so there's talk of a federal government grant to match it.

Now let's dive in with our magnifying glasses into the fine print.

Eligibility rules come from UC Merced's blue and gold page and UC admissions, and most of them overlap with the Cal Grant application process.

You gotta have residency, first and foremost, gotta live in California.

Your income's gotta be under 100K.

Using parent income for dependent students and student plus spouse income for independent.

Your need, students have to show financial need and meet UC's basic grant requirements.

You got to file the FAFSA, which you should do every year anyway, no matter what, or the California Dream Act application and the Cal Grant GPA verification form by March 2nd with no separate application.

There is a time limit.

There's no way for working age adults to pay for getting additional education.

The Cal Grant system doesn't support them.

Unemployment doesn't support them.

So we have this need to create a more intentional solution for how we help those workers get the skills that they need in order to not just survive in the economy, but hopefully to thrive.

The priorities of the state emanate from the budget that's proposed.

And so we want that to be explicit in the budget.

So when the governor proposes the Prop 98 budget or the CSU UC budget or the Cal Grant budget, that there are components in there that prioritize the needs of working learners and make it a real priority.

Number two, to create a centralized leadership for a California talent strategy.

One is, strictly speaking, it's about $198 billion investment over those 30 years.

Currently, the state already, if you just think about the public systems alone, not including Cal Grant and other support for the private nonprofits, it's nearly $100 billion already.

So while it sounds like a big number, one, if we made better use of the current investment and then found a way to add additional investments specifically targeted to increasing the capacity in the way that would need to reach 70% attainment goal.

According to Georgetown's own economists, that break even happens at five years.