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Share via E-mailAccording to the California Budget and Policy Center, college tuition and fees in California are more than 13 times higher than they were in 1980, making it harder for students to come out of college debt-free.
About half of public California college students leave school with student debt; the average graduate has just under $20,000 in debt, according to College Insight.
According to the Washington Post, 72 percent of undergraduate students are eligible to receive some form of financial aid, but students who live in student housing have added costs. The costs to live in the dorms have skyrocketed.
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed the state’s $47.1 billion annual higher education spending bill, touting investments he said will address college affordability and accessibility and expand financial aid options for students.
What is the state of financial aid for students in colleges and universities in California? To answer this question, we focused on two bills Newsom recently signed into law: — AB 469 and AB 1377 — as well as a third bill he vetoed: AB 1456.
Assembly Bill 469: Requiring financial aid applications
AB469 requires all California students to apply for financial aid by filling out either a FAFSA or California Dream Act application form.
Sasha Perez, director of public affairs for the Campaign for College Opportunity, says the bill directs K-12 schools to support these students by helping them fill out these applications.
Perez says it is crucial for students to understand the importance of completing the FAFSA. She also said parents of undocumented students need help navigating the system — and guidance that the California Dream Act application can help students access money to pay for higher ed.
Perez believes the AB469 will increase student enrollment in colleges next school year, allowing more low-income students to apply, especially undocumented students who may assume attending a four-year university is far out of their reach.
By requiring it, Perez believes will illustrate to many underprivileged students that college can be affordable.
“To make the FAFSA a requirement, it’s less of a burden for our students.” says Perez.
Sona Tigranyan, a leader in the College of the Canyons student government, says she sees the importance of having immigrant students on her campus. Tigranyan, herself the daughter of immigrant parents, sees how immigrant students place a high value on their education — perhaps even higher than students who were born in the U.S..
“Education is not a privilege but is a right for anyone who wants it,” Tigranyan says. She later adds: “Making financial aid available for dreamers is crucial.”
Assembly Bill 1377: Campus housing plans
Another bill that ensures a better financial security for students is AB 1377. This legislation urges all community colleges, UCs, and CSUs to come up with housing plans for students for the 2022 school year until 2027.
“Across the state, there’s an affordable housing crisis,” says Michael Schouten, chief of legislative affairs for the CSU Northridge Associated Students. Housing is a huge issue for many California residents and students. “By an estimate, one in 10 CSU students and one in 20 UC students are homeless,” says Schouten.
Schouten says he understands the issue well: He lives more than 40 miles away from Northridge which helps him save money he would otherwise spend on on-campus housing.
“I’m living at home right now. I’m Zooming,” he says. “We see some students in some recent studies, driving over two hours just to get to campus.”
Schouten sees the disparity between student housing and how it affects students who also commute to CSUN.
Perez agrees with Schouten, and she says many universities will have to work with their surrounding cities to ensure the building “dense” housing that can accommodate large numbers of students — a process that may require revisiting local zoning codes.
“It’s going to be a process. I expect there will be hiccups in those processes, but a good faith effort from the state,” says Perez.
She often hears students complain about the costs of housing, gas, and food. Perez adds that most of these expenses are not considered during the process of applying for financial aid.
Tigranyan also wonders whether all university administrators are spending their current funding wisely. Perez says it depends on the university, but says she’s heard students complain their school lacks resources they need in order to graduate.
“We have to realize when we look at state funding,” Schouten says, “certain things are being used for certain projects.”
One vetoed bill, one new law: expanding the Cal Grant
One major source of financial aid is the Cal Grant program, which offers up to $14,000 dollars a year to students attending the state’s public colleges and universities. The recipients don’t need to pay that money back.
While Governor Newsom did authorize a modest expansion of the Cal Grant program over the summer when he signed AB 132, he vetod a different bill — AB 1456 — that would’ve made even more students eligible for the awards.
AB 1456 will hit many local community colleges hardest, according to the news site CalMatters, which reported that the bill would’ve made 110,000 students there eligible for CalGrants.
Tigranyan stresses educators should focus on reversing the trend of declining student enrollment due to the 5.6 percent of students dropping out. Even through the 2020 school year, about 10% of students in community colleges collapsed nationally.
“I’m not too sure about why the bill was vetoed but, in my opinion, it might be a good idea to reconsider,” says Tigranyan.
However, Schouten says the bills Newsom signed in October represent one of the “the biggest investments” to aid UCs, CSUs, and the California community college system. He was one of many who supported AB 1456 and was disappointed to see it die, but “take it with a grain of salt,” he says.
“There’s always another legislative cycle, so what didn’t get through this cycle, may get through the future,” Schouten says, adding: “There is definitely investment in higher ed.”
