Written by Geoffrey Hughes

Biolans receiving Cal Grants will be significantly affected by California’s belated approval of the state budget.

California’s State government is behind schedule in reaching the deadline for announcing budget decisions. This means that Biola and other colleges and universities will be unable to disburse Cal Grant funds to student accounts until Biola receives the payment from the California Student Aid Commission, said Jonathan Choy, Biola’s director of financial aid.

"Usually the reason for not having a signed budget is when the California Legislature and governor cannot come to an agreement or terms on the budget items [themselves],” Choy said. “One wants one thing funded, the other doesn't and so on. Usually, someone has to give in for the budget to be an agreement.”

Choy said Financial Aid has sent letters out to all Cal Grant recipients to inform them of the situation.

“We simply wanted students to know so that they're not caught off guard when they receive their September 15th billing statements and the Cal Grant is not listed.”

According to the California's Governor's Budget web page,

"This budget proposes the difficult but necessary steps needed to bring the state's chronic structural deficit under control, not only for this fiscal year but permanently. This is accomplished by (1) imposing strict spending restraint in the current and budget years while protecting and preserving essential state services and (2) proposing a Constitutional Amendment to reform the budget process so that state government has the tools needed to avoid spending more than it has in the future.”

Cal Grants are California State funded monetary grants given to qualified California residents to help pay for college expenses. Biola students can get nearly $10,000 per year from these grants.