Higher education budget trailer bill

The budget trailer bill changes how community colleges receive and use state support, tightens requirements for state-financed student housing, and continues selected student-aid and health programs.

What the law does ​

• Extends through 2031–32 the higher age limit for community-college transfer Cal Grants, allowing eligible students younger than 30 to qualify.
• Lets Public Interest Attorney Loan Repayment Program participants choose whether payments go directly to them or their lender.
• Changes the community-college funding formula to use the higher of a district’s three-year enrollment average or current-year eligible credit enrollment, and repeals a $49.734 million Student Centered Funding Formula appropriation.
• Adds $325,000 to the 2026–27 Student Support Block Grant, allows spending through June 2030 for student-support purposes, and extends district and Chancellor’s Office reporting deadlines.
• Requires stronger evidence of housing demand, college ownership of project land, cost contingencies, and approval checkpoints for community-college student-housing projects financed after June 30, 2026.
• Extends the University of California’s Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program through January 1, 2032, with a report due by January 1, 2031.

Who it affects ​

• Community-college transfer students, including eligible students ages 28 and 29.
• Community-college students using basic-needs, mental-health, childcare, counseling, legal, and job-support services.
• Community colleges seeking state-backed financing for student housing.
• Public-interest attorneys receiving state loan-repayment assistance.
• California State University campuses and the University of California.