One of the bills sponsored by the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, SB 291 (Leyva), is currently awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Higher Education Committee. If passed, the bill would establish the “California Community College Student Financial Aid Program” to provide need-based grant awards to eligible community college students. These need-based awards are designed to address the total cost of attendance, including non-tuition expenses like textbooks, housing, food and transportation.
To highlight the importance of this issue and to demonstrate that real changes in financial aid for community college students must not wait, the Chancellor’s Office has conducted a statewide outreach effort and created the True College Cost website that allows students, parents, and concerned Californians to show their support for the bill.
As of our publication, legislators have received more than 8,130 emails from Californians in every legislative district expressing that financial aid must help community college students cover the true cost of college – not just tuition. If you haven’t already, you can join the coalition of supporters by filling out the form or by texting “financial aid” to 52886 and filling out the form on your phone.
