Nearly 100,000 More Students Awarded Cal Grants This Fall | Inside Higher Ed

Roughly 99,000 more California Community College students were awarded a Cal Grant this fall, according to the California Student Aid Commission.

The commission credited expanded eligibility requirements in the 2021–22 state budget for the increase. The budget eliminated restrictions on state financial aid based on age and time out of high school.

“This change to the Cal Grant marks a critical step in making California’s state financial aid more accessible and equitable for thousands of students and adult learners, a majority of whom are low and middle-income,” commission chair Catalina Cifuentes said in a press release.

Students will also be able to keep the state financial aid if they transfer to a California State University or a University of California campus.

Marlene Garcia, executive director of the commission, noted that the broadening of the Cal Grant eligibility requirements will offer much-needed financial support to students amid the pandemic.

“This momentous investment and eligibility expansion enables more students to realize their college dreams and offset the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only exacerbated ongoing college affordability struggles,” Garcia said in the release.