Davis OKs Ambitious Cal-Grant Bill

California is promising to spend at least $1.2 billion each year to create the nation’s biggest state scholarship program, covering college tuition for all needy students with at least a C average.

Under legislation signed Monday by Gov. Gray Davis, the state will expand its current Cal-Grant program starting next year to pay tuition for eligible students at all of California’s public and private universities.

“This is the most ambitious financial aid program in America and we’ll say to all students, ‘We’re putting our money where our mouth is,’ ” Davis said at a ceremony in front of the Student Union at Cal State L.A. “You do your job well to get the grades, college will be a reality.”

Forty-three percent of students whose grades and income qualified for the program this school year were turned away for lack of money. The expansion is made possible largely by a boom-time state surplus and a push by legislators and Californians to improve public education, particularly for low-income students.

The program will cost the state about $1.2 billion a year when the expansion is completed in 2006 and provide scholarships for about 250,000 students, according to the state Student Aid Commission, which runs the program. The state is spending $530 million on 130,000 students in the program this year.

The expansion affects the two major types of Cal-Grant awards.

Cal-Grant A awards, for high school students with at least a B average and an income of no more than $64,100 for a family of four, provide annual tuition of $1,428 for Cal State campuses, $3,429 for University of California schools and up to $9,708 for private colleges.

Cal-Grant B awards are for students who have at least a C average and have a maximum income of about $33,700 for a family of four. In the first year of a Cal-Grant B, a student receives $1,551 for books and living expenses to attend a community college. In later years, when he or she transfers to a four-year college, full tuition plus $1,551 is provided.