After a year where California students saw some of the highest fee increases in the nation, legislators are proposing improvements to the Cal Grant program and Governor Schwarzenegger is promising more money for higher education.

While this year’s cuts and fee increases were higher than usual, the past five years have not been kind to students’ budgets in California.  Over that period, fees for University of California students have increased by 61 percent while fees for California State University students have increased by 68 percent. 

On Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger promised to veto the state budget if it did not include an increase in funding for higher education.  His budget proposal included a $224 increase in spending from the general fund for higher education. 

Despite Schwarzenegger’s statement, the percentage of general fund spending on higher education spending has declined since he took office, reaching an all-time low in 2006.  Schwarzenegger also proposed eliminating the state’s financial aid program, the Cal Grant, in July of 2009 to fill the state’s budget hole. 

The Governor’s statement about the budget comes on the heels of Assembly Bill 2447, which would improve the Cal Grant program, passing a key committee vote.  The bill would tie financial aid to the rate of inflation and to fee increases.  It would also protect the program from cuts by making it part of the “locked budget.”

Cal Grants currently serve 22,500 students statewide. 

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