Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 1456, which would have reformed the statewide Cal Grant program.
Cal Grant is a program where CSAC covers students’ tuition. Eligibility is based on FAFSA/CADAA responses, GPA, education status, and campus the student will attend.
AB-1456 is a bill proposed by the state legislature that would have increased the number of community college students eligible for the aid. It is a bill that also proposed to make the Cal Grant process more simple since many students are confused on how it works. More universities and community colleges would have gained eligibility to help students financially with the grant reform.
“AB 1456 was designed to bring the Cal Grant forward and make it more equitable across the California college systems,” said Tina Lent, Delta’s director of financial aid and scholarships. “It would have added thousands of California Community College students to the Cal Grant program and greatly increased the amount of the grants.”
AB-1456, or the Cal Grant Reform Act, would have become operative for students to apply for aid beginning Oct. 1, 2023, and to receive aid for the 2024–25 school year.
Newsom claimed that if he approved of the bill it would have been very expensive and that it could lead to tuition hikes at UCs and CSUs throughout the state.
Newsom’s veto on AB-1456 will affect second-year Delta College students. Some second-year students that transfer may not be eligible to receive financial aid because they wouldn’t make the minimum requirements with Cal Grant as it is at the moment without Newsom’s approval.
Newsom’s veto on AB-1456 will also affect many students as some students don’t know how it works.
The Cal Reform would have changed eligibility by being more open to others than they are right now. The reform would get rid of GPA requirements for community colleges and would reduce the minimum GPA from 3.0 to 2.0 for UC’s and CSU’s.
It would also create two separate Cal Grant awards, Cal Grant 2 and 4. The Cal Grant 2 reward would award low-income community college students and Cal Grant 4 would go to students at four-year universities. Tuitions and fees would be covered for students at UC’s and CSU’s.
“It is certainly disheartening that this [AB-1456] was not passed,” said Lent.
Although it didn’t pass, she also showed optimism by bringing up one of the programs that can help cover expenses for college too.
“Despite the veto of AB-1456, the addition of the California Community College Entitlement Awards is great news for our students,” she said.