SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Assembly Democrats on Monday proposed an extensive expansion of financial aid programs for students at California’s public colleges and universities.
They’re calling their plan the most ambitious proposal in the country to reduce student loan debt. In addition to expanding financial aid for community college students, it would create $1.6 billion per year in new scholarships for students in the University of California and California State University systems.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office reported this year that more than half of California college students graduate with student loan debt, with debt for students from UCs and CSUs averaging nearly $20,000. The Democrats say their plan aims to make college more affordable so students do not need to take out loans.
“California is taking the boldest step in the nation toward making college debt-free,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from Paramount, said during a Monday news conference. “We have the opportunity to assure California students that when they go to college, they’ll leave with degrees, not debts.”
The new scholarships would be paid for using money from the state’s General Fund. The proposal would also maintain the Middle Class Scholarship program, another General Fund expense. Gov. Jerry Brown called for eliminating the Middle Class Scholarship in his budget proposal.
“We are rejecting… the governor’s cut of the middle class scholarship,” Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting, of San Francisco, said. “We think the last thing we want to do is move those families backward.”
The $1.6 billion scholarship program would be phased in over five years and would help cover non-tuition expenses for approximately 400,000 students each year when fully implemented. Students would begin receiving the scholarships in 2018, and they would eventually be awarded to all Cal Grant, University Grant and Middle Class Scholarship recipients.
