Cal Grant reforms can help more students complete college

By RukShan Samaranayake, special for Calmatters

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

My journey to college is filled with deviations.

After high school, I attended a college for two semesters before joining the US Army. When I finished my service as a combat engineer – located abroad and with two purple heart medals to boast – I returned to California and enrolled in Community College. But the financial difficulties obstructed.

Not surprisingly, Money is the main reason most students Stop or drop out of collegeS I was fortunate to have benefits for GI BILL to pay for my education, but most Californians do not have this opportunity. In the end, I returned to college, graduated from my diploma and transferred to the National University, where I won a bachelor.

Financial help has done everything different in my college trip – and my life. California legislators have the opportunity to strengthen a financial aid program that serves as a rescue line for hundreds of thousands of Californians seeking credentials for college to improve their lives.

This year, the Grant program support nearly 700,000 Californians with low and medium -sized incomes that pursue diplomas in public and independent post -dog institutions throughout the country. Two -thirds of the new CAL grant recipients seek to become the first college graduates in their families. Nearly one third are adults – many with family, work and other responsibilities – who return to school over time away from official education.

Cal Grant allows to pursue a letter of credit in institutions that have been feeding California’s economy for decades. Today, 56% of adults in California Have a follow -up degree or identification number, an increase in nine points since 2014. Improving the state financial aid program would help more Californians open the careers with high salaries that support California worldwide. But the award of the CAL grant program is not up to date with the growing price of college.

Assembly Bill 402Which is now considered in the State Senate, would do two critical things to support people like me who have taken a less traditional path.

First, by restoring the Cal Grant scholarship amounting to the 2001 levels, the bill will provide additional assistance to admissible students. The AB 402 will gather the maximum CAL grant award for students attending independent institutions with $ 350 to $ 9,708 a year, starting in 2025-26. This increase would directly support nearly 31,000 Californians who visit private non -profit colleges and universities.

Second, the bill will ensure that unconventional students like me who are transferred from college to community to one of More than 85 Independent California Colleges or Universities They can maintain their eligibility on Cal Grant.

In 2024, these campuses welcomed more than 3,300 students from a college transfer to the Community. If the students in the transfer can maintain the eligibility of grants, this will open up additional opportunities for better service to the various needs and realities for community students.

Thanks to the financial assistance that supported my college trip, I moved from college to a college graduate. In January, I won my bachelor’s degree with honors from the National University.

I chose to stay there to pursue my master’s master’s degree while I was Vice President of the Student Veterans Organization, voluntarily through the California Volunteer Program and supporting two military organizations, the mission continues and the early warrior project continues.

The AB 402 is a small investment in post -control capabilities that could make a big change in people’s lives. Every college trip is different, but everyone must have a chance to receive the financial support they need to reach the final.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.