More Cal Grant opportunities are key to equity in higher education

OPINION – For decades, the people who have farmed our fields day-in and day-out — planting, growing and picking the crops that feed the world, have been denied access to the basic resources they deserve – including access to higher education.

Unfortunately, delays and mistakes made this spring by the U.S. Department of Education on this year’s student aid applications – or FAFSA forms – only created more confusion, hesitancy, and obstacles for students thinking about pursuing higher education. And this was especially the case for “mixed status” families– students whose parents do not have Social Security numbers. In fact, many students were unable to submit their federal aid forms and rightly access the financial aid they deserve due to this glitch in the system. This was a troubling setback for students who wanted nothing more than to get an education to better their lives for themselves and their families.

Luckily, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), created a California-specific work-around for this federal glitch, allowing California students to use the California Dream Act Application to instead apply for financial aid.

I applaud the Governor’s efforts to solve this federal issue with our state’s application and to ensure everyone has better access to the higher education they need to succeed. This is pivotal in helping break cycles of poverty – allowing students and families to access our state’s financial aid programs, namely the Cal Grant program, which can fully cover tuition. While I am thankful such a program helps students attend college or university, countless students are still left out from accessing such benefits due to outdated and inequitable barriers.

In order to break decades of poverty, education is a game-changer that allows people to transcend their circumstances. Our Cal Grant program continues to sustain students, no matter their parents’ immigration status, but there are many outdated rules that still keep hundreds of thousands of needy students out.

Reforming Cal Grant to eliminate age, GPA, and time-out-of-high-school restrictions would open the doors to higher education for even more students, including thousands of adult learners. That’s why we’re asking lawmakers to consider both the short and long-term benefits of investing in education and supporting initiatives that empower students from all backgrounds to pursue higher education without financial barriers.

We know that implementation of the Cal Grant Equity framework could result in an estimated 137,000 additional students eligible for a Cal Grant just in the first year of implementation. We also know that Cal Grant Reform makes financial aid more inclusive: more than 98,000 (approx. 70%) of additional, newly eligible students would be Latinx; another 13,000 (approx. 10%) would be African American. With expansion, there will be more students eligible across all demographics, but the populations that benefit most significantly are students of color, student-parents, older students, and female students.

Time and again, California leads the way in opening doors for disadvantaged communities, and the Cal Grant program has uplifted people from immigrant and working families for decades.

It is critically important to invest in these students and our workforce of the future. We know that the only way to achieve true equity and shared economic prosperity is to continue to invest in the people who are working to build a better life for themselves and their families through the expansion of the Cal Grant program. Higher education isn’t just about individual achievement—it’s about community empowerment.  Each student who accesses higher education returns with the skills they need to boost their communities and help propel California forward toward social and economic growth that benefits our communities, our state and our country.

The Dolores Huerta Foundation has prioritized empowering all people who are pursuing ducation and workforce training to improve their chances at building rewarding careers to support themselves and their families. We are committed to restorative justice and educational equity. That’s why we support expanding access to Cal Grant to make it more inclusive and to serve more students.

Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Association, Dolores Clara Fernandez Huerta is one of the most influential labor activists of the 20th century and a leader of the Chicano civil rights movement. She currently runs the Dolores Huerta Foundation.