Oct 03

Governor Newsom signs AB 288!

Governor Newsom Signs NCCPC-Sponsored Bill: AB 288 California Ban on Scholarship Displacement Act

Source: Meredith Curry Nuñez, Executive Director of NCCPC

Policy Update

Thanks to Gov. Newsom, Asm. Calderon, Asm. Bonta, over 300 supporting organizations and individual Californians, and many other state and higher ed leaders, we have finally crossed the finish line! AB 288 The California Ban on Scholarship Displacement Act was signed into law on Friday, September 30. This is a major step forward in preserving the value of scholarships to improve college affordability for Pell-eligible and CADAA eligible college students in CA. Read more about the bills that Gov. Newsom signed here.

In the article It’s time to end scholarship displacement co-authored by Policy Committee Co-Chair Sbeydeh Viveros-Walton and Advocate Member Nadja Jepsen, “AB 288 bans scholarship displacement for over 1 million low-income college students in California.”

Find the official press release below.

Press Release

“Private scholarships should supplement, not supplant grants, tuition waivers or stipends provided by institutions of higher education to students who have a proven financial need. Limiting a student’s ability to pay for college can have significant consequences, including postponing graduation or dropping out of school, and goes counter to everything the Legislature has been doing to make a college degree financially attainable.”

– Assemblymember Mia Bonta, co-author of AB 288

“As California students struggle with figuring out how to achieve their dream of earning a college degree, we should not punish students who receive private scholarships by reducing their financial aid awards. This is especially true in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, as public and private resources become even more limited for our students.”

– Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, co-author of AB 288