Higher education budget trailer bill.
What changed between versions
The bill went from a two-line intent statement to a full budget trailer bill amending over 20 sections of the Education Code, Health and Safety Code, Unemployment Insurance Code, and the Budget Act of 2025, covering higher education policy across all three segments.
Cal Grant C minimum program length reduced from 4 months to 8 weeks, with award amounts now tiered based on program length rather than a single fixed amount.
Age limit for California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement raised from 28 to 30 years old, but only for the 2026-27 through 2030-31 award years (a temporary change).
Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance Program expanded to include vision and dental benefits in addition to medical benefits.
New state-level approval process for federal Workforce Pell Grant short-term programs: Student Aid Commission must determine whether programs meet federal requirements, consult with workforce agencies, and issue decisions within 90 days of receiving a completed application.
Community college districts must provide up to 14 weeks of paid leave for pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery, with no minimum hours worked or length of service requirement, effective January 1, 2027. Must maintain health coverage and retirement contributions during the leave.
New Credit for Prior Learning Initiative requires community colleges to evaluate prior learning documents of incoming students, accept transcribed credit from other community colleges, and develop systemwide processes and technology infrastructure for awarding prior learning credit.
Common Cloud Data Platform required for community colleges to create unified data infrastructure for statewide reporting, data sharing, and analytical tools across all participating districts and the chancellor's office.
Nondiscrimination annual presentations to legislative budget subcommittees may now be made by a designee of the chancellor or president rather than requiring the individual to appear personally.
California Online Community College (Calbright) must submit data to the chancellor's management information system using comparable elements to noncredit programs starting in 2026-27, and the chancellor's office must post this data publicly.
Nonresident tuition exemption cap for low-income Mexican students near the border changed from 150 FTES per individual college to 1,350 FTES total across all participating colleges, with a requirement for joint administration and allocation planning.
Multiple new General Fund appropriations: $36 million for Dreamer Resource Liaisons, $147 million for Student Support Block Grant, $196 million for apportionments and FTES growth, $15 million for LGBTQ+ student support, $10 million for Early College Demonstration Initiative, $16 million for apprenticeship instruction hours, $5 million for Pierce College Family Resource Centers, $3.3 million for deferred maintenance, and $1.2 million for Cal-Bridge First Academic Scholar Training.
Community college apportionment formula changed so that funded credit FTES is the greater of the 3-year rolling average or current year FTES (starting 2026-27), and each district receives at least its 2024-25 funding level adjusted by a 1.44% cost-of-living increase.
$408,363,000 in deferred apportionments from 2025-26 to 2026-27 is now applied toward the 2024-25 constitutional minimum funding requirement rather than the 2026-27 requirement.
Budget Act of 2025 appropriation for community college apportionments reduced by $455,452,000.
Higher Education Student Housing Grant Program reporting deadline moved from July 1 to February 1 annually, and must now be submitted together with the student housing data report under Section 66014.6.
Allied health and nursing program reports (four separate reports) consolidated to a single December 31 deadline starting in 2026, then triennially thereafter, instead of the previous March 1 annual or biennial schedule.
Native American repatriation provisions recast to align with updated federal regulations, replacing the exception-based condition with a requirement that no federal stay of repatriation be in effect.