To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Save our Cal Grants
While this is currently just a proposal, we must get out in front of the issue now to make sure the governor and the state legislators understand the effect this will have on California’s students and the state budget.
Why is this important?
The California Grant the (Cal Grant) offered to California residents attending universities may be in jeopardy. Governor Jerry Brown is considering reducing the grant by almost 44 percent, from a maximum of $9,708 a year to maximum of approximately $5,700. The Cal Grant changes being considered affect me personally and tens of thousands of other low income students attending independent, nonprofit higher education institutions like Loyola Marymount University (L.M.U.). The loss or reduction of the grant would be significant enough to make tens of thousands of students unable to return to the California universities in school year 2012-13. Brown is hoping the cuts will save the state money, but this will not be the case. Students who are forced to leave private institutions will most likely attend state schools, which are already reaching capacity, and could ultimately cost the state more money. This is because the state subsidy [the amount the state pays per student] for Cal Grant students attending institutions like L.M.U. is substantially lower than the total subsidy provided to the Cal Grant students in the UC and CSU systems.