Bill Text: CA AB1542 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges: student members: Student Success Completion Grant program awards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed) 2023-05-24 - Referred to Com. on ED. [AB1542 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1542-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1542
| Introduced by Assembly Member Mike Fong |
February 17, 2023 |
An act to amend Sections 71004 and 88931 of the Education Code, relating to community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1542, as introduced, Mike Fong.
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges: student members: Student Success Completion Grant program awards.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The board of governors consists of 18 voting members, including 2 voting student members appointed by the Governor. Existing law requires that members of the board receive their actual and necessary traveling expenses while on official business and that each member also receive $100 for each day the member is attending to official business. The campuses of the California Community Colleges administer the Community Colleges Student Success Completion Grant program which requires, for a student to qualify to receive a grant award, that the student receive a Cal Grant B or C award, make satisfactory academic progress, and be a California resident or exempt from paying nonresident tuition.
This bill
would award Community Colleges Student Success Completion Grant program awards to student members of the board of governors, as specified. To the extent the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 71004 of the Education Code is amended to read:71004.
(a) Members of the board shall receive their actual and necessary traveling expenses while on official business. Each member shall also receive one hundred dollars ($100) for each day(b) A student member of
the board, as described in subdivision (b) of Section 71000, shall receive a Student Success Completion Grant program award pursuant to Section 88931 for each semester, or quarterly equivalent, of each year the student is a student member on the board, regardless of the number of units in which the student is enrolled.
SEC. 2.
Section 88931 of the Education Code is amended to read:88931.
(a) Commencing with the 2018–19 academic year, each participating community college shall provide a grant award to a student pursuant to subdivision (b). The purpose of the grant award is to provide the student with additional financial aid to help offset the student’s total cost of community college attendance.(b) A student attending a community college may receive a grant award pursuant to this section if the student meets all of the following requirements:
(1) The student receives a Cal Grant B or C award pursuant to Chapter 1.7 (commencing with Section 69430) of Part 42 of Division 5.
(2) The student is making satisfactory academic
progress at the college under criteria required by the applicable federal standards published in Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The criteria applied by the community college for determining satisfactory academic progress shall, to the extent consistent with applicable federal standards, provide that homelessness, as defined as a “homeless individual” within the meaning of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11302(a)), or as defined as a “homeless child or youth,” as defined in subsection (2) of Section 725 of the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 11434a(2)), is an extenuating circumstance for students who are otherwise unable to meet the requirements deemed to constitute “satisfactory academic progress” at that community college. The community college may consider this extenuating circumstance, in its discretion, to the extent consistent with federal standards, to alter or excuse compliance with those progress requirements.
(3) The student is a California resident or is exempt from paying nonresident tuition under Section 68130.5 or 76140.
(c) (1) The students who meet the applicant criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be eligible for the following grant amounts:
(A) One thousand two hundred ninety-eight dollars ($1,298) per semester, or quarterly equivalent, for eligible students who enroll in 12, 13, or 14 units per semester, or the quarterly equivalent number of units.
(B) Four thousand dollars ($4,000) per semester, or quarterly equivalent, for eligible students who enroll in 15 units per semester, or the quarterly equivalent number of units.
(2) (A) If
funding is available after making awards to students in the primary terms, a community college may grant additional awards to students who take a sufficient number of units during the summer term to bring their total number of academic units to 24 units or more for the academic year. The chancellor’s office shall work with colleges to determine the summer grant amounts based on available funds.
(B) It is the intent of the Legislature that the available grants would be prorated to allocate a larger amount to students who take a sufficient number of units for a total of 30 units or more for the academic year.
(d) (1) To the extent practicable, a grant award shall be awarded at the same time as a recipient’s overall financial aid package.
(2) The grant award shall be considered a supplemental
grant, and shall not supplant any other grant, fee waiver, or scholarship aid received by the student, including, but not necessarily limited to, federal grants, Cal Grant awards, institutional grants, merit-based scholarships, and athletic scholarships.
(3) The grant award shall be based upon the financial need of the applicant, and shall not exceed the calculated financial need for any individual applicant. The minimum level of financial need of applicants shall be determined by the commission pursuant to Section 69432.9.
(4) The grant award identified in subdivision (c) shall be proportionally reduced if the amount of funding appropriated in the annual Budget Act for this purpose is insufficient to fully fund the total number of students awarded a grant.
(e) (1) Each participating community
college shall administer the grant award pursuant to the requirements of this section.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that a student is enrolled in a program of study and has completed an education plan identifying courses, a sequence of courses, key progress of milestones, and other requirements the student must complete to earn an associate degree, career technical education certificate, other community college certificate, or meet transfer requirements.
(3) Each participating community college shall encourage students to enroll in a sufficient number of units per semester, quarter, or summer term to be considered on track to obtain a certificate, associate degree for transfer, or associate degree or transfer to a four-year university within two academic years or within three academic years if a student is required to take basic skill courses by the community
college.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, except as provided in subdivision (g), a student who is a member of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 71000 shall receive a grant award from the community college the student attends in the amount of four thousand dollars ($4,000) per semester, or quarterly equivalent, of each year the student is a member of the board pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 71000, regardless of the number of units in which the student is enrolled.
(f)
(g) This section shall not be operative in a fiscal year unless funding has been provided for this section for that fiscal year in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
