Student financial aid: Cal Grant Program: cost of attendance

A college’s cost-of-attendance budget helps determine how much financial aid a student can receive. The law requires participating colleges to disclose how those budgets are calculated and consider adjustments when a student’s actual costs are higher.

What the law does ​

• Makes a compliant cost-of-attendance policy and adjustment process a condition of being a Cal Grant qualifying institution, beginning no later than the 2027–28 academic year.
• Requires colleges to prominently publish the data sources and assumptions used for every component of their cost-of-attendance budgets.
• Requires colleges to accept electronic or paper adjustment requests and allow requests for any expense category in the budget.
• Requires colleges to consider adjustments for higher housing and utility costs, computers, uninsured medical, dental, and vision expenses, higher transportation costs, dependent care, and disability-related expenses.
• Requires clear online instructions on how to request an adjustment, review timelines, decision notices, and staff contacts, and bars deadlines earlier than three weeks before a term ends or lifetime limits on requests.

Who it affects ​

• California public, private, independent, and qualifying nonprofit postsecondary institutions participating in the Cal Grant Program.
• Cal Grant applicants and recipients, including students whose actual living, transportation, child care, disability-related, or other covered costs exceed a college’s standard budget.

Context ​

An approved adjustment may result in additional financial aid, including grants or loans.