In response to the 145% and 190% tuition increases at University of California schools and California State Universities over the past ten years, the California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education voted unanimously in favor of the new Middle Class Scholarship.
“We understand that the policy of raising fees at the level that we have over the last several years has created an absolute crisis of affordability,” said John A. Pérez, former Speaker of the California State Assembly in a speech to the Committee of Higher Education.
The Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1500, the bill that increases funding for the Middle Class Scholarship, and Assembly Bill 1501, the bill that contains the scholarship, with a vote of 54 to 25.
A divide has emerged between the college applicants who qualify for financial aid and the people who can afford tuition without it, but few measures were taken for those that found themselves in neither category.
According to College and Career Specialist, Paula Vantrease, the Middle Class Scholarship acts as a supplement for families who don’t qualify for larger scholarships like the Cal Grant, the Blue and Gold Scholarship, or the Federal Pell Grant.
There are certain requirements necessary to qualify for the scholarship. The student must be recognized as a California resident, they must uphold a certain undetermined level of academic success, and they have to reapply for the scholarship at the beginning of every school year.
“This is about the tens and hundreds of thousands of middle class families that have taken the brunt of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” said Pérez to the California State Assembly.
The scholarship is set to be phased in over a period of four years starting in the 2014-2015 academic school year. Because the program is being established over a period of time, the amount of money available to students through the scholarship increases each year.
After the program is fully implemented, families with a total income of less than $100,000 a year will be eligible for a scholarship of up to 40% of their tuition, and families with incomes between $100,000 and $150,000 will be eligible for a scholarship up to 10% of their tuition.
The Middle Class Scholarship defines the middle class as families with a maximum total annual income of $150,000, however there was no lower limit identified.
According to Pérez, the bill that contained the Middle Class Scholarship also included an increases in funding for UC and CSU schools to $250 million, and plans to increase the school funding to $1 billion by the 2016-2017 school year.
“The scholarship will be great once it is up and about and fully funded, because it can help a student who doesn’t get enough aid through the regular channels like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or for other scholarships,” said Vantrease. “That can make a difference for students.”
To apply for the scholarship, a student must fill out the FAFSA or the California Dream Act application. Then, the schools then see if the student can receive money from the Middle Class Scholarship.
“We must act where we can. The place that we can make a difference [is in] making sure we have financial aid available to our students,” Pérez said to the Assembly.