Cal Grant to be Slashed, Students Suffer

Students vying for the already nigh unattainable Cal Grant had better look elsewhere for their financial aid next fall. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2008-09 budget completely eliminates the "competitive" type of Cal Grant, of which the majority of recipients attend community colleges.

The abolition of the competitive Cal Grant is one part of the sweeping statewide cutbacks in the next fiscal year.

"It's stupid. People need and want to go to school. It's like pulling the rug out from underneath us" said Valley student Jorge Guerrero. "It's the difference between going to school or not."

There are two basic categories of Cal Grants, "entitlement" and "competitive." The state awards entitlement Cal Grants to recent (within one year) high school graduates with at least a grade point average of 3.0 who apply by March 2. Competitive grants go to older students and those who missed the deadline. Currently, only one in six eligible students who apply for a competitive Cal Grant receive any aid.

The grant itself is broken into two distinct pieces, aid for tuition and general aid categorically defined as "access." Access monies assist students in paying for room and board, supplies, books and transportation along with any other expenses.

Community college students receive the lowest amount of money from the Cal Grant program. California community colleges don't charge an annual tuition, so that portion of the grant is held for the student until they enroll at a university that does.

"Its pretty messed up." said sports management major Eve Williams. "There's a lot of people that really need [Cal Grant.] I don't understand why they would cut it."

Currently, the access grant is the weakest part of the Cal Grant package, which, according to the Institute for College Access and Success grew only 10 percent since 1991. In contrast, gasoline prices in California grew 76 percent throughout the same timeframe.

The elimination of competitive Cal Grants leaves 22,500 eligible community college students in the cold, and constitutes a 45 percent reduction in those receiving Cal Grants throughout the community college system, according to the institute.

"It's terrible, they should cut other things, not aid programs," said Selma Cohen of the Valley counseling center. "If students can't get help paying for classes, they can't go to school."

The Institute for College Access and Success states that the will cuts hit community colleges the hardest, as many students are disproportionately older and thrown into the competitive pool. Meanwhile, Cal Grant applicants at the University of California and California Sate University system are chiefly applying straight out of high school and eligible for the much larger entitlement grant.

Barbara Ralston, the director of Valley's Financial Aid department commented on how the cuts will affect Valley students. "You'll probably see students who normally have qualified for [Cal Grant]; they may feel that there's no other alternative and they have to work instead of go to school, which will be catastrophic."