(a) (1) A Cal Grant B award shall be used only for tuition, student fees, and access costs in a for-credit instructional program that is not less than one academic year in length.

(2) The commission, or a qualifying institution pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 69450), shall award access grants in a student’s first academic year. In subsequent years, the award shall include an additional amount to pay tuition or fees, or both, to attend college at a public or private four-year college or university or other qualifying institution for all Cal Grant B awards pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 66021.2. In no event shall the total award in any year exceed the applicant’s calculated financial need.

(3) Not more than 2 percent of new Cal Grant B recipients enrolling for the first time in an institution of postsecondary education shall be eligible for payments for tuition or fees, or both, in their first academic year of attendance. The commission shall adopt regulations specifying the criteria used to determine which applicants, if any, receive both tuition and fees plus the access grant in the first year of enrollment. Priority shall be given to students with the lowest expected family contribution pursuant to Section 69432.7 and the highest level of academic merit.

(b) An award for access costs under this article shall be in an annual amount not to exceed one thousand five hundred fifty-one dollars ($1,551) or, if the recipient meets the qualifying criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 69465, the amount of the award provided pursuant to Article 9 (commencing with Section 69465). These amounts may be adjusted in the annual Budget Act.

(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 53, Sec. 10. (SB 77) Effective July 1, 2019.)