CA is not ready to distribute new vocational training assistance

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Federal financial aid is the engine of the nation’s higher education system, pouring billions into student loans and grants in California alone, and this summer the U.S. Department of Education plans to expand aid to students enrolled in short-term work-study programs.

Except the state is not ready.

Launching a new financial aid program means creating new systems at the state and local levels, and the California Student Aid Commission, the state agency in charge, has said it needs more support. Although the federal aid program is scheduled to begin July 1, Daisy Gonzalez, the commission’s executive director, has repeatedly said, both in state hearings and in an interview with CalMatters, that the funds won’t be available to students until weeks or even months later.

Financial aid systems are “extremely complex” he claims, and the state doesn’t have the necessary infrastructure to build one according to the timelines set by the federal government.

The new financial aid, known as short-term or workforce Pell grants, is an expansion of the federal Pell Grant program, which for decades has offered thousands of dollars in cash to low-income students to cover tuition and living expenses.

Historically, students in short-term work-study programs have not been eligible for federal financial aid. The new Pell Grants will provide funding to students enrolled in programs such as auto mechanics or computer science, most lasting approximately 10 weeks. Both public and private institutions are eligible, and it is estimated that the average student will receive between $1,000 and $3,000, although the details have not yet been finalized.

The new grants are part of a national, bipartisan effort to further align higher education with the needs of employers, but the results have sometimes fallen short.

In 2024, CalMatters examined how California job centers are using federal funds to help unemployed, low-income adults attend short-term job training programs at for-profit educational institutions. Thousands of dollars in public subsidies went to these institutions to train truck drivers and nursing assistants, occupations often characterized by low wages, poor working conditions and high staff turnover.

Some of these for-profit schools were are being investigated for various student enrollment violations. CalMatters found that most truck driving schools are lacking virtually supervisory . Some nursing assistants won less than $30,000 after graduation.

The new Pell Grants for short-term job training programs come with federal regulations designed to ensure that graduates earn wages above the poverty line in a high-demand occupation and that only certain types of accredited schools are eligible. California is considering state legislation that would further limit the types of programs that can qualify.

Because neither the state nor the federal government closely monitors these short-term vocational training programs, it is unclear how many exist or how many students may benefit. Experts say California community college students may benefit the most because the state’s 116 community colleges already offer numerous short-term job training programs in skilled trades, health care, technology and public safety. However, in an email to CalMatters, the Office of the Chancellor of California Colleges indicated that it is too early to provide grades.

As an example, Gonzalez cites CalGrant C, which provides state funding to students in vocational training programs lasting at least 15 weeks. This year approx 225,000 students are potentially eligible . But unlike the new Pell Grants, which could generate billions of dollars in federal spending, CalGrant C has a relatively small budget, benefiting just under 7,800 students a year.

Are labor investments paying off?

In south San Diego County, many college students work full-time but still can’t afford the cost of living, said Mark Sanchez, president of Southwestern College in Chula Vista. Many students, including U.S. citizens, are “transitional,” he explained, meaning they live in Tijuana, where the cost of housing is lower, and cross the border into the United States daily to attend classes because they can’t afford to live in California.

Sanchez promoted the new Pell Grants, arguing with state and local officials that they could give his students a path to better-paying jobs. His team estimated that about 1,500 students could be eligible for scholarships in about 50 different programs, ranging from music to accounting.

In order for students to qualify, schools will have to work closely with the state and federal governments to prove that at least 70 percent of those who graduate from these vocational programs are employed and that their wages are above the federal poverty line. Data is scattered and difficult to collect, and in some cases the information is not even collected, said Su Jin-Jez, executive director of California Competes, an education nonprofit.

State data can show, for example, that a college graduate works for a school district and how much he or she earns, but they can’t say what role he or she plays at the school, such as whether he or she is a teacher, secretary, lawyer or janitor, Jez explained. “Our state has invested billions in aligning higher education with the labor market, and we have no good way of knowing whether those investments are paying off.”

California Competes sponsored two bills in the legislature this year, including a of the senator Christopher Cabaldon D-Napa, which would require state employment agencies to collect more data. The other This is from the deputy Jackie Irwin D-Thousand Oaks and will regulate which programs are eligible for the new short-term Pell grants. In this latest bill, the MP Juan Alanis R-Modesto, is a co-sponsor and the Institute for College Access and Success is a co-sponsor.

Separately, the governor’s office has drafted emergency legislation that includes proposed regulations for the new Pell Grants. While the California Student Aid Commission cannot rule on the bills, Gonzalez has openly praised Irwin’s bill and criticized the governor’s proposal, saying it “risks creating a fragmented system.”

Avoid another failure

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Gavin Newsom and the Legislature created a new financial aid program known as the Learning-Employment Program, which aimed to provide millions in financial aid to working students to help them obtain employment related to their degree program.

The program was a failure, said Gonzalez, who was then vice chancellor of the community college system. There was only one-time funding and a three-year success period, he explained. “What was sorely lacking … was professional development and technical assistance. You can’t just introduce a new tool and say, ‘Students, apply.'”

At the end of the three-year period, few students had applied, and state lawmakers decided to cancel the program. In a statement emailed to CalMatters, Nicole Kangas, a spokeswoman for the student aid commission, said the tuition-matched employment program is a cautionary tale for the new Pell Grants.

Expanded Pell Grants were approved last summer, but the U.S. Department of Education didn’t finalize its regulations until last month, giving states less than two months to implement them before July 1. California officials and universities now have a long list of administrative and regulatory tasks to complete, including creating special agreements between the state and each of its college districts and universities. When the California Student Aid Commission created similar agreements with universities for Middle Class Scholarship the contracts were between 60 and 120 pages long and took about nine months to finalize, according to Gonzalez.

“We’re really behind,” he said, adding that several other states have already passed legislation on the issue. Some new regulations, like Irwin’s bill, could give the state “a chance to catch up,” he said.

For Sanchez, the challenge is not just administrative. Once the new Pell Grants are available, Southwestern College still needs to inform current and prospective students of the existence of these grants and convince them to apply for one.

Although most community college students experience financial hardship — including some who are homeless — many are unaware of financial aid, hesitate to apply, or submit incomplete applications. Less than half of community college students lawyer financial aid last year and government data show that even fewer have received it.