Student financial aid: Cal Grants: Middle Class Scholarship Program: eligibility: dependents of members of the armed services stationed outside of California.

Plain English Breakdown

The official summary does not specify the exact nature of 'conforming changes' made by the bill.

Cal Grants and Middle Class Scholarship Program Eligibility for Dependents of Military Members

This law makes students who are dependents of military members stationed outside California eligible for Cal Grant and Middle Class Scholarship Program benefits, even if they did not live in California when they finished high school.

What This Bill Does

• Expands eligibility for the Cal Grant program to include children or spouses of active-duty military personnel stationed outside California who meet other applicable eligibility requirements.
• Makes these dependents eligible for the Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP) if they are enrolled in a qualifying college or university and meet other MCSP eligibility criteria.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students who are dependents of active-duty military members stationed outside California.
• Colleges and universities that participate in the Cal Grant program.

Terms To Know

Cal Grants

Financial aid provided by the state of California to help students pay for college.

Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP)

A scholarship program in California that helps middle-class families afford higher education at UC or CSU schools.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law only applies to students who are dependents of military members stationed outside California and meet other eligibility requirements.
• It does not change the financial requirements for these programs, just the residency criteria related to active-duty military personnel maintaining legal residence in California.

Official Summary Text

AB 88, Ta.
Student financial aid: Cal Grants: Middle Class Scholarship Program: eligibility: dependents of members of the armed services stationed outside of California.
Existing law, the Cal Grant Program, establishes the Cal Grant A Entitlement Awards, the Cal Grant B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Expanded Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission.
Existing law, the Cal Grant Reform Act, revises and recasts the provisions establishing and governing the existing Cal Grant Program into a new Cal Grant Program. Existing law specifies that the act becomes operative only if General Fund moneys over the multiyear forecasts beginning in the 2024–25 fiscal year are available to support ongoing augmentations and actions, and if funding is provided in the annual Budget Act to implement the act.
Under either Cal Grant Program that is operative, existing law establishes eligibility requirements for awards under the program for participating students attending qualifying institutions, including, among others, California residency requirements, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP) under the administration of the commission. Existing law makes an undergraduate student eligible for a scholarship award under the MCSP if the student is enrolled at the University of California or the California State University, or enrolled in upper division coursework in a community college baccalaureate program, and meets certain eligibility requirements, including, among others, that the applicant meets the eligibility requirements for a Cal Grant.
This bill would extend Cal Grant and MCSP eligibility to a student who was not a resident of California
at the time of high school graduation or its equivalent but meets all other applicable eligibility requirements and is a dependent natural or adopted child, stepchild, or spouse of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States stationed outside of California on active duty, if the member of the Armed Forces of the United States otherwise maintains California as their state of legal residence. The bill also would make conforming changes.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF