Students and staff from private universities are protesting Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed cuts to the Cal Grant program. Some appeared today at a Senate budget sub-committee hearing addressing the plan.
Currently students at private schools can receive up to $970,000 a year. Brown proposes cutting that to $4,000 for students at for-profit schools and about $5400 for students at private, non-profits. Ruben Gonzalez, a junior at the University of Redlands, said, “I don’t know how I would come up with that money if that would happen. That would probably push me to become more of a part-time student and full time worker, which means I wouldn’t graduate in the four years.”
The saving from the proposals is estimated at around $300 million. The State Department of Finance says the goal is to focus resources on students most likely to graduate and on students at public institutions.
The Senate Committee took no action on the proposals.
