The Cal Grant expansion for California college students is in jeopardy as the state deficit grows

CalMatters

Mikhail Zinshteyn

April 23, 2024

When California’s budget surplus was in the tens of billions two years ago, legislators passed a law that would expand the state’s nationally renowned free-tuition and cash aid program to an additional 137,000 college students by fall 2024 — but only if the money is there.

Whether the Cal Grant tuition program grows will play out in the next two months, as state legislators and Gov. Gavin Newsom grapple with a budget deficit now estimated at between $38 billion and $73 billion, depending on whom you ask.

Early signs suggest California’s upcoming budget, which legislators and the governor must finalize by late June, won’t be able to shoulder the new expenses. “Based on current revenue projections, those conditions are unlikely to be met in 2024-25,” wrote Lisa Qing, an analyst with the Legislative Analyst’s Office, in an email last week.

Full expansion would cost $245 million, on top of the $2.4 billion the state already spends on the Cal Grant program. The financial aid juggernaut fully covers tuition at the University of California and California State University and provides cash awards to community college students of $1,650, though some students with children get more. Private college students receive partial tuition waivers.

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