California is giving financial assistance to students transferring to historically Black colleges and universities!
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that grants community college students who transfer to historically Black colleges and universities a one-time grant of up to $5,000, according to EdSource.
There aren’t any HBCUs in the state of California. So the grant is meant to help offset the oftentimes high cost of out-of-state tuition for students Cali students wanting to attend an HBCU.
The bill was written by Assembly Majority Leader Isaac Bryan and was put into motion to “create a California-to-HBCU-to-California pipeline that would benefit not only our students, but the entire state,” the California Student Aid Commission stated, according to the outlet.
The program uses money generated by the College Access Tax Credit. The commission said that due to federal tax changes, there has been a significant decrease in revenue, and the program no longer meets the demand of its intended target, low-income students. The commission says the program now provides “more meaningful and impactful support” for a small number of students by repurposing the funds.
Marlene Garcia, executive director of the California Student Aid Commission, said in a statement, “AB 1400 creatively redirects funds to provide support to California’s students looking to transfer to an HBCU and bring their talents back to California.”
According to the bill, 53 California community college students transferred to 39 HBCUs in the 2021 to 2022 fiscal year.
Photo by Prostock-Studio / Shutterstock