LAO – Evaluation of Cal Grant C Program

LAO

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has just published the following report:

Evaluation of Cal Grant C ProgramThe Cal Grant C program provides financial aid to students in career technical education (CTE) programs. Legislation enacted in 2011 and 2014 changed the rules for prioritizing among program applicants. The new rules give higher priority to students pursuing occupations that meet strategic workforce needs, with greater consideration given to disadvantaged applicants.

Few students have been applying for Cal Grant C awards, such that all eligible applicants are offered awards. As a result, the California Student Aid Commission has not needed to use the new prioritization criteria. Over the past few years, there also has been no noticeable increase in the share of awards offered to students pursuing a prioritized occupation. Furthermore, the program’s eligibility rules and application requirements add an extra layer of complexity to the state’s financial aid program.

Given these findings, we recommend the Legislature phase out Cal Grant C awards and redirect the funds to the Cal Grant competitive program—another financial aid program that is open to CTE students, has more unmet demand, entails a simpler application process, offers a larger annual award, and is available for more years of study.

This report is available using the following link: https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4020?utm_source=laowww&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=4020