Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget plan will increase GPA requirements for Cal Grants, if passed. The deadline to apply for financial aid is March 2 so students could receive a Cal Grant and then have it canceled because they don’t meet the new GPA requirements.

Brown is proposing to raise the minimum GPA requirements for Cal Grant B from 2.0 to 2.75, and community college transfers from 2.4 to 2.75. This will affect approximately 26,600 students and save an estimated $131 million.

Brown said this will focus limited financial aid resources on those students who are most likely to complete their degrees. He believes that the students with the higher GPA is more likely to receive a degree and should therefore receive the financial aid.

In actuality, it would have a seriously harmful effect on low-income students who are trying to afford college. If they are denied financial aid, then they won’t be able to afford to go to college anymore.

Brown is also proposing to decrease the award amount for students attending private, non‑profit schools to the CSU award amount.  This would decrease the maximum Cal Grant amount granted to students attending private institutions from $9,708 to $5,472. It would save $111.5 million and affect approximately 30,800 students.

Decreasing the award amount may create an issue because students may choose to go to public universities instead. They would flood those public universities with more students than the university can accommodate and end up increasing state expenses because California would pay more to fund them.

Cal Grant GPA increases could also hurt college completion rates because more than one-third of those currently eligible for Cal Grants would be cut out. A student may have the current GPA requirement, but if the budget plan gets passed then they would no longer meet the new GPA requirements.

Raising the GPA requirements for transfer entitlement awards would also hurt students who have already demonstrated that they can succeed in college. The student could have completed their community college coursework and gained acceptance to a four-year university only to be denied the financial aid they need to attend the college.

If a student isn’t able to receive enough financial aid in the form of Cal Grants, then they can take out a student loan, apply for a scholarship, or seek out federal work study.