Student financial aid: Cal Grant C awards.

Existing law, the Ortiz-Pacheco-Poochigian-Vasconcellos Cal Grant Act, establishes the Cal Grant C Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under this program. The act requires that a Cal Grant C award be used only for occupational or technical training, as defined, in a course of not less than 4 months. The act requires the commission, after consultation with state and federal agencies, to determine the areas of occupational or technical training for which Cal Grant C awards shall be awarded. This bill would require the Student Aid Commission to develop, and regularly review and update at least every 5 years, the areas of occupational or technical training for which students may utilize Cal Grant C awards. The bill would require the commission to give priority in granting the awards to students pursuing occupational or technical training in areas that meet specified criteria. The bill would require a determination by the commission for a subsequent award year that the program under which a Cal Grant C was initially awarded is no longer deemed to receive priority to not affect an award recipient's renewal. The bill would require the commission to publish, and retain, on its Internet Web site, a current list of the areas of occupational or technical training meeting those specified criteria. The bill would require the commission to examine the graduation rates and job placement data of eligible programs and to give priority to students seeking to enroll in programs that rate high in those areas. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to submit a report to the Legislature, containing specified data on the outcomes of the Cal Grant C Program, on or before April 1, 2015, and on or before April 1 of each odd-numbered year thereafter.