Governor Newsom recently vetoed AB-1456, the Cal Grant Reform Act, but was it really the right thing to do?
The Cal Grant Reform act was meant to update many things for the Cal Grant program. One of those changes would’ve been to expand who would be eligible for Cal Grant. Eligibility for Cal Grant is based on FAFSA/CADAA responses, GPA, school that student will attend, etc.The act would’ve reduced the minimum GPA requirement for UC and CSUs from 3.0 to 2.0. It would’ve also removed GPA requirements for community colleges so therefore way more students would get help.
Newsom didn’t necessarily reject the whole bill but he just doesn’t think it is a good idea because of the possible hikes in tuition and possible taxes on their part that come with the aid. AB1456 is a great idea for people going to college.
Newsom should approve of AB1456 because this bill could help many more students afford college. With the more relaxed requirements, it would help more students around that range be able to enter college without trouble and especially if they’re going to a community college.
With the pandemic going on, many people lost their jobs and many families are still struggling financially because of that. If they’re struggling financially, obviously they won’t be able to pay for college and even if they did, it would be through student loans and it could cause a huge financial burden for everyone. The loosened requirements for AB1456 can also have families because tuition fees would be waived so families would have to worry less about college expenses.
Cal Grant works in an interesting way and that confuses many students as they don’t know how Cal Grant works. AB1456 would’ve helped with that because the bill would have simplified it all by having separate awards for low-income community college students and four-year UC/CSU students. This would’ve been another great way to help the students because now they would know what award they get since they’re separate.
Newsom also mentioned that it would hike college/university fees. Whether the prices go up or down, students would still be covered by financial aid and they’re most likely going to have to pay anyway so if tuitions and other fees hike, might as well take that risk so more students can be covered by Cal Grant. Others may say that it won’t get students as far but the point of the bill is to help more students qualify for the reward at least and it is better to have some help than no help so even if they don’t cover full costs, other things like scholarships can come into place
If the Cal Grant reform act can actually take place, more people will go to college. Another effect of the pandemic is that less people are going to college because Covid completely affected them because what was already hard to pay for got even harder due to people suffering financially. There was a decline in enrollments in college because they can’t pay for it during these times and the Cal Grant rewards could have helped them but maybe they didn’t receive the help which is also why they haven’t enrolled .With the pandemic getting under control and if the act takes place, more students will start to attend college again because their tuition can be covered.
The bill should go into legislation regardless of the consequences like tuition hikes, taxes, and other fees so they can help all the students that are going through this time of uncertainty and help them strive for a better future.