Scholarship Windfall for Cal State Students

In what we consider a win for the golden state, the California college system is starting to help make sure students no longer need to go into debt for an education. Just a reminder for any naysayers; this mimics the free system in place many years ago. My parent’s entire four-year college tuition at a state school was completely free, minus the cost of books. Meanwhile, I spent several thousand dollars for one semester. How exactly is that fair? As reported by CalMatters: 

“California is on track to remove any reason for its public university students to take out student loans. Known as Middle-Class Scholarship 2.0, the “debt-free” program is slated to receive its first infusion of money this summer: a cool $632 million that lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom promised in last year’s state budget that they said they’d fund this year. 

If that money appears in the state’s budget this June, an anticipated 246,000 California State University students and 114,000 University of California students will receive this aid to help finance their educations starting this fall. Students at other California campuses, including community colleges, are ineligible.

The money will have an immediate impact on low- and middle-class students whose families generally earn less than $201,000. The exact amounts students receive will vary, but grants will range between $1,000 and just over $3,000 on average in the program’s first phase. Students in higher-income households will typically get the larger amounts to make up for the lack of aid they receive from other state and federal grants.” 

How exciting is this news for parents whose students might not need loans in the future for school? Let us know, and sound off in the comments below!

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Daniela Bailes

Daniela is a communications expert, having worked in the marketing department for CBS Corp. creating a variety of media campaigns for news, sports, and prime-time television. She also has extensive experience in youth marketing, having worked for companies such as Nickelodeon and The Jim Henson Company. Daniela is an award-winning film/television writer, a proud alumnus of The Yale Writer’s Conference, and a member of the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Daniela enjoys crossword puzzles, fine art photography, and using multiple email addresses to try and win The New Yorker’s weekly caption contest.

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