Sacramento, CA - The Student Senate for California Community Colleges (SSCCC), the CalState Student Association (CSSA), and the University of California Student Association (UCSA) have come together for the second year in a row to advocate for financial aid reform on behalf of all California students.
We are happy to see Governor Newsom acknowledge the California Student Aid Commission’s Cal Grant Workgroup in his 2020-2021 budget proposal and look forward to the recommendations that it provides. However, without any other investment in financial aid reform, California would not be doing enough to adequately address the affordability crisis students across all segments are currently facing.
It is time for our state to comprehensively reform and fund the financial aid system so that we can address the full cost of attendance, including food, housing, transportation, textbook, and healthcare expenses. Without reform, we will continue to see our lowest-income students taking on more and more debt while working multiple jobs and struggling to graduate.
We look forward to continuing working with the Governor, the legislature, and our partners on this issue and ensuring we see investments that:
- Provides sufficient resources to address the students’ basic needs for all three
- segments of public higher education;
- Addresses not just tuition costs but the full cost to attend college for students;
- Expands access to the Cal Grant; and
- Gives more flexibility to students looking to graduate quicker by utilizing summer
- courses.
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