Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Higher Education topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Subcommittee advances SB 685 to pilot financial assistance for students who experienced homelessness
Summary
SB 685 would create a pilot providing targeted cost-of-attendance assistance to students who experienced homelessness in high school and enroll at California State University campuses; supporters said the aid would close an unmet need and help students persist in college.
Sen. Jerry Cortese (presenting as author for SB 685) described the bill as a pilot to provide financial assistance to students who experienced homelessness while in high school so they can afford housing, food and transportation after enrolling at a CSU campus. He said many such students continue to face unmet needs even after receiving Cal Grant and other aid and cited a typical remaining gap of about $10,000 per student.
Student advocates and organizations testified in support. Shivani Ramanathan of Generation Up said students who experienced homelessness face barriers that undermine success and that targeted assistance helps retention and completion. Representatives from Fresno State and other districts asked the author to consider including specific campuses in the pilot language and discussed campus-level administrative implementation. Committee members questioned eligibility windows and how long a student’s McKinney-Vento identification would remain valid for program eligibility; the author replied the bill uses the McKinney-Vento definition and targets students identified while in high school.
Members also debated whether the pilot should be broader and how it relates to other state financial aid programs, including the Middle Class Scholarship and federal Pell Grants. The author and supporters emphasized the proposal is a targeted pilot for CSU campuses to test whether covering unmet cost-of-attendance gaps reduces dropouts and homelessness among recent high-school graduates. The committee accepted amendments and advanced the bill to the Appropriations Committee for fiscal review.
What happens next SB 685 advances to the Senate Appropriations Committee as a pilot program; the author indicated further work to clarify sequencing with other financial aid programs and eligibility timing will continue with staff and stakeholders.
