California State Update
by CASFAA President Vu Tran,
California State University - Los Angeles

On behalf of the CASFAA 2000-2001 Executive Council and California, I wish all of you and your families a great year filled with a great sense of accomplishment and happiness.

During the past several months, the California financial aid community has been "buzzing" loudly and continuously-like a bee hive-with many activities that should make the 2000- 2001 year a "honey-sweet" awarding year for many students in the state. With an ever increasing state budget surplus that is approaching $10 billion plus, Governor Davis and the state legislators are considering an increase in state funding for various financial aid programs slated for the fiscal year that begins on July 1st, 2000 and ends on June 30th, 2001. The governor's total education legislation package would cost about $852 million. Some of the proposals receive widespread support; others generate debates on whether there is a better way to support (needy) students. Some significant proposals from Governor Davis and the State Legislators are briefed as follows:

First, compared to prior years, funding proposals for Cal Grant programs include significant increases. Proposed funding for Cal Grant A (a grant which pays for student tuition and fees to attend a California post-secondary institution) is being increased to cover up to 25% of high school graduates who apply for financial aid, have financial need and meet the 3.00 GPA criteria. During the 1999-2000 fiscal year, the state pro-vided funding for 18% of the qualified high school candidates.

Second, the proposed allocation for State University Grant which is used for students at the 23 California State University (CSU) campuses reflects an increase of $11 million-or about 10 percent above last year's funding level. This is in addition to a bill, which many think will not pass, to cut fees at the CSU and the University of California (UC) schools by 50 percent.

Third, as the increase of California student population in the K-12 sector continues to outpace the availability of teachers, programs using financial incentives are being considered to correct the current imbalance. For example, under the "Teacher Housing Program" proposal, during the 2000-2001 fiscal year, the state would provide up to 5,000 teachers "employed in low-performing schools with forgivable loans of up to $10,000 for down-payment assistance toward the purchase of a home."Another proposal calls for an expansion of the student loan forgiveness for teachers (APLE: Assumption Program of Loans for Education) in the state. Under the Teachers as a Priority (TAP) proposal, newly hired, credential teachers at low-performance schools in participating districts would be qualified for a one-time $2,000 award. Do you know of any teachers who want to relocate to California? The time is now.

Fourth, in spite of some resistance from some state legislators, Governor Davis is pushing very hard for the "Governor's Merit Scholarship" program. This program would provide up to 100,000 students with $1,000 scholarships for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students who demonstrate high academic achievement on the statewide Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) examinations. In addition, he also proposes to award $2,500 scholarships to students who attain a score of 5 (the highest possible score) on the Advanced Placement (AP) calculus and science exams.

On another front, the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) has implemented the new Webgrants system improving the Cal Grant delivery in the state. CSAC was also among 6 guarantee agencies selected by the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the "Voluntary Flexible Agreement." A CASFAA appointee works with the CSAC GEAR-UP Scholarship committee establishing scholarship selection criteria. This group should conclude its work by the middle of May.

The upcoming CASFAA 2000 Conference will be held in the beautiful San Diego area, where the weather is mild and the sun shines all day long during December. In keeping with our conference theme "Metamorphosis," we are trying something new. The Conference Committee, with the leadership of Georgette DeVeres and David Levy, is working very hard to implement a new process allowing attendees to register and pay registration fees with credit cards using the Web medium. Looking back, on February 24th, CASFAA 2000 executive council members and many colleagues gathered in Sacramento for our annual "Day at the Capitol". We met with representatives from the administration, the state legislature, and the legislative analyst's office to learn more about current issues that may affect the financial aid community in the coming year.

Training and support for California financial aid professionals remains a high priority for the year 2000. We continue a very successful training program, started last year under Past-President Toni Dubois, that includes the CASFAA mini-conferences and the CASFAA Management Institute. The mini-conferences present current financial issues to many financial aid staff who do not have the opportunity to attend the annual conference and will be held during the month of June. The CASFAA Management Institute's objective is to provide attendees with knowledge and skills to enable them to achieve effective leadership in their organization. This year, the CASFAA Management Institute will be held in early July.

The scholarship taskforce and the Ethnic Diversity Committee are currently "buzzy" screening and making decisions on hundreds of scholarship applications from CASFAA members for various scholarship programs. Awards range from providing a $400 book allowance to CASFAA members who attend school to full funding for attendance to the CASFAA 2000 Conference in San Diego.

Finally, the CASFAA 2000 Executive Council is working on further strengthening the organization's financial foundation as we are reviewing our investment policies, financial records and various insurance coverage.

Until the next update, I wish all of you and your staff success during the 2000-2001 processing year.