Prop 92 Tidbit: Fees Already Waived for Low Income Students

It's not clear who needs the 25% community college fee reduction imposed by Proposition 92. The ballot summary says "This fee reduction would have no direct impact on needy students because fees are already waived for all students who demonstrate financial need."

A little more detail:

About one-quarter of all CCC students do not pay any educational fees. This is because current law waives the fees for resident students who demonstrate financial need. Most of these students are low- to middle-income. Generally, a community college student living at home, with a younger sibling and married parents, could have annual family income up to roughly $65,000 and still qualify for a fee waiver.

While CSU and UC student fees continue to climb, the reduced fees would be locked in for community college students:

If the measure passes, it is likely that fees would remain at or near $15 per unit for many years. This is because at this level the Legislature could only increase the fee if per capita personal income exceeded 6.7 percent in any given year. (This has occurred just once in the past 20 years.)

Summary of Proposition 92 (Legislative Analyst)