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 source material does not specify whether the MCSP eligibility is exactly the same as Cal Grant eligibility, only that it extends to eligible dependents of active-duty military personnel.

Cal Grants for Dependents of Military Members

This law makes children and spouses of military members stationed outside California eligible for Cal Grant financial aid if the service member keeps their legal residence in California.

What This Bill Does

• Expands eligibility for Cal Grants to include dependents of active-duty military personnel stationed outside California, provided these individuals meet other requirements.
• Includes dependents who were not residents of California when they graduated high school but whose parent or spouse is a resident of California and on active duty elsewhere.

Who It Names or Affects

• Dependents of active-duty military personnel stationed outside California
• Students applying for financial aid through Cal Grants

Terms To Know

Cal Grant Program

A state-funded program that provides financial assistance to eligible students attending qualifying institutions in California.

Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP)

A scholarship program for undergraduate students at the University of California, California State University, or community college baccalaureate programs who meet certain eligibility requirements.

Limits and Unknowns

• The law only applies if there is sufficient funding available in the state budget.
• It incorporates changes from other bills (AB 148 and SB 148) that must also be enacted for this bill to take effect.

Official Summary Text

SB 67, Seyarto.
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.
This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 70022 of the Education Code proposed by AB 148 and SB 148 to be operative only if this bill and either SB 148 or AB 148 are enacted, and this bill is enacted last.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF