Many adults in California are missing out on financial aid for college 鈥� and for years, the state declined to help.
The most popular form of federal financial aid, the Pell grant, provides low-income students with around $7,000 a year鈥� money that can go towards all kinds of expenses, such as tuition, rent or transportation. Typically, college students need a high school diploma or equivalent to qualify, but a workaround, known as the Ability to Benefit provision, allows adults without a high school diploma to get federal financial aid in college.
California鈥檚 community colleges . The regulations surrounding the provision are 鈥渃umbersome鈥� and few students know about it, said Kevin Harral, the director of financial aid at Las Positas College in Livermore.
Seven other states found ways to simplify those regulations, but the California Community Colleges Chancellor鈥檚 Office didn鈥檛 make such a push, even after education advocates put forward a proposal five years ago.
In this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Chancellor Sonya Christian said reforms may come soon. They said the state has submitted to simplify the ways that students qualify for this financial aid provision. The federal government has to approve the proposal.
鈥淭his initiative has the ability to change lives,鈥� Christian said in the statement. 鈥淚t will open college and career opportunities for adult learners seeking to pursue their academic aspirations, regardless of their background or circumstances.鈥� An estimated 4 million adults in California lack a high school diploma 鈥� all of whom could benefit, according to the statement.
Hurdles to accessing financial aid
Last fall, roughly 36,500 adults without high school diplomas attended one of California鈥檚 community colleges, according to data from the Chancellor鈥檚 Office. Rebecca Ruan-O鈥橲haughnessy, vice chancellor for educational services and support, said the office does not track how many of those students are receiving federal financial aid. She said she could provide an estimate but not before the time of publication. In response to inquiries last summer, CalMatters found that only a few colleges had implemented the program.
Las Positas College doesn鈥檛 have any students who currently receive financial aid through the Ability to Benefit provision, said Harral, pointing to the various hurdles students must overcome.
Before they can qualify for federal financial aid, a student without a high school diploma must pass at least two college courses and simultaneously enroll in high school-level or GED classes. Alternatively, if they want to receive financial aid before passing a class, students can take a test to prove their academic merit. Once they qualify, students are limited to certain college classes, as determined by the school they attend.
Most of these regulations are set by the federal government, which has toughened rules to clamp down on financial aid fraud, especially at for-profit colleges. With permission, though, states can give schools the option to modify some of the rules.
In California鈥檚 proposal, community college students could, for instance, attend an orientation or schedule meetings with an academic counselor instead of taking two college-level classes or passing an exam. Even if California鈥檚 proposal is approved by the federal government, colleges determine which requirements they want to impose.
鈥楾ime is of the essence鈥�
By 2019, Iowa and Wisconsin had already created a simplified pathway that allowed students without high school diplomas to qualify for federal financial aid. That year, Linda Collins, the executive director of the Career Ladders Project, worked with other community colleges and another nonprofit, World Education/JSI, to , asking it to do something similar.
Nothing happened, even as Washington, Illinois, Alabama, Minnesota, and Mississippi designed their own policies to expand access to the Ability to Benefit provision.
After about the provision, Collins received calls from state officials, inquiring about the Ability to Benefit provision.
Around the same time, Gov. Newsom named Christian the new chancellor for the community college system. Both Newsom and Christian have since announced plans to expand access to college, especially for working adults and those seeking job training. This proposed financial aid reform is part of a 鈥渂igger picture,鈥� they wrote in their statement, citing the governor鈥檚 , which will be released this fall.
The new proposal is 鈥減retty similar鈥� to the 2019 version, Collins said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really pleased with this breakthrough,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen the (new) chancellor heard about it, my sense is that she really embraced it.鈥�
It may be too late. The federal government recently enacted new 鈥� and in some ways more cumbersome 鈥� regulations for the Ability to Benefit provision, which go into effect on July 1. 鈥淭ime is of the essence,鈥� Collins said.
If the federal government approves California鈥檚 proposal before July 1, she said the reforms could happen as early as this year. After July 1, the future of the proposal is less clear.
Adam Echelman covers California鈥檚 community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.
Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt and Irvine Foundations.
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