Students To Pay Less As California Expands Scholarship Scheme

By

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page
US News Reporter
Trust Project Icon Newsweek Is A Trust Project Member

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has expanded the state's Middle Class Scholarship program by another $227 million in this year's budget deal, as previously promised, allowing California college students to pay much less than their peers across the country for their studies.

The overhauled scholarship—which debuted last year and is known as Middle Class Scholarship 2.0—is aimed at financially helping undergraduates and students pursuing a teaching credential with family income and household assets up to $217,000 to pay for their studies in the 2023-24 academic year.

According to data from CalMatters, obtained from the California Student Aid Commission, 302,000 students received an average of $1,970 more towards funding their studies in the 2022-23 academic year thanks to the Middle Class Scholarship.

Gavin Newsom
California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California on May 2, 2023. The governor has approved an additional $227 million in funds for the state Middle Class Scholarship. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

The additional $227 million now infused by California lawmakers will help an estimated 360,000 UC and Cal State students pay for their education expenses, with the students expected to receive about $1,000 to $3,000 to fund their studies. Scholarship award amounts will vary by student and school, but students are expected to get more money than before because of the additional funds.

The Middle Class Scholarship is now worth $859 million—money which will help students to lower their debt loads, with the goal of eventually eliminating it altogether. According to data from CalMatters, students across the UC and CSU who borrowed federal loans and graduated in 2019-20 typically took out about $15,000.

Students at other California campuses, including community colleges, are not eligible, as CalMatters reported. This aspect of the scholarship has drawn criticism from those complaining about the program not helping the traditionally poorest students to pursue higher education.

While California has the lowest tuition fees for community colleges in the country, community college students often end up paying more than their UC and CSU peers because they have access to less state, federal, and institutional financial aid, as shown by a 2020 study from the California-based Institute for College Access & Success.

California lawmakers' ultimate goal is to eventually grow the scholarship so that students don't have to take out loans to attend a UC or CSU, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel. To allow students to attend a public university debt-free would cost the state about $2 billion more every year.

But one issue with the scholarship seems to be how quickly students receive the awarded amounts. All eligible Cal State students and some UC students didn't receive their scholarship money until late 2022 or early 2023, as reported by CalMatters, critically missing the beginning of the early fall term.

Newsweek has contacted Gov. Gavin Newsom's office for comment by email on Friday.

Request Reprint & Licensing Submit Correction View Editorial & AI Guidelines

Top stories

About the writer

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property insurance market, local and national politics. She has previously extensively covered U.S. and European politics. Giulia joined Newsweek in 2022 from CGTN Europe and had previously worked at the European Central Bank. She is a graduate in Broadcast Journalism from Nottingham Trent University and holds a Bachelor's degree in Politics and International Relations from Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy. She speaks English, Italian, and a little French and Spanish. You can get in touch with Giulia by emailing: g.carbonaro@newsweek.com.

Writers Page

Giulia Carbonaro is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on the U.S. economy, housing market, property ... Read more