Chapman student advocates for financial aid equity at annual Day in the Capitol event
Chapman student Trinity Huynh spoke with members of the California State Legislature on increasing funding for the Cal Grant program, which strives to help students in paying for their education. Photos courtesy of Trinity Huynh
Rising senior political science major Trinity Huynh was able to bring her passion and interest in advocating for equity with financial aid to Sacramento for the annual Day in the Capitol event March 14, during which college students have the opportunity to lobby bills and issues with legislators and staff.
The event was co-organized by the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) –– which consists of at least 80 independent, nonprofit colleges and universities and advocates for the institutions’ interests regarding public policy matters –– and its six-month student cohort program, the Independent California Colleges Advocate Program (ICCAP) –– which allows students to participate in this advocacy.
“ICCAP participants develop and strengthen their advocacy, leadership and communication skills that will equip them as life-long citizens and leaders,” Jonathan Charres, the assistant director of diversity and outreach for Chapman’s Undergraduate Financial Aid, wrote in an email to The Panther. “Their mission aligns with our institutional mission of providing opportunities for students that leads to inquiring, ethical and productive lives as global citizens.”
Huynh said her interest in advocating for equity with financial aid stemmed from her longtime interests in political science and international relations. She hadn’t had the chance to explore domestic policy previously, so she was interested in potentially learning more about it.
Her experiences attending community college at ACCEL Middle College and Evergreen Valley College, both in San Jose, California, while she was still in high school also contributed to her interest in advocating for equity with financial aid and her work with the AICCU.
“In high school, I did a dual enrollment program, (so) I was very familiar with applying to transfer as well as attending community college,” Huynh said. “I applied to UCs, and I applied to private universities, and so I wanted to learn more about the Cal Grant because it directly affects Cal Grant recipients.”
As the sole Chapman representative in this spring’s cohort for the ICCAP, Huynh had the opportunity to speak with Assemblymember Tri Ta (R-70) and Jody Fujii, the chief of staff for State Sen. Dave Min (D-37). She spoke with the two about increasing funding for the Cal Grant programs, which seek to help independent colleges be more accessible and affordable to California students.
“While we were (in Sacramento), we went into the offices and then we proposed bills we were interested in, specifically the programs, as well as another bill that previously was passed last year that hadn’t been implemented,” Huynh said. “And then from there, we just proposed our ideas and asked if they’d be willing to support it.”
One proposal Huynh made to Ta and Fujii was getting $5.5 million in funding to expand the Cal Grant from $9,358 to $9,500. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom and the State Legislature approved several major reforms to the Cal Grant program via the 2022-23 State Budget, the first time in six decades that the program was updated.
Huynh said her interest in advocating for equity with financial aid stemmed from her longtime interests in political science and international relations.
One of these reforms was increasing the CalGrants for students attending private nonprofit colleges and universities to $9,358. These reforms were well-received by the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), which released a statement in June 2022.
“These major reforms to the Cal Grant program make financial aid more inclusive and equitable, putting California on course to establishing true pathways to debt-free higher education,” CSAC Executive Director Marlene Garcia said in the statement. “This represents work that has been years in the making to fix financial aid and remove barriers that have kept out thousands of students every year. The adoption of the Cal Grant Equity Framework in the State Budget will help thousands more students afford their college dreams every year and re-establish California as a national leader on issues of college affordability.”
A report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that the cost of higher education for an undergraduate degree increased by 169% within the span of four decades from 1980 to 2020.
According to the Education Data Initiative, the average amount an in-state student spends at a public four-year university in one academic year is $25,707, while a student at a private, nonprofit university spends $54,501 in the same time span. In-state tuition averages at $9,377, while out-of-state tuition comes out to $27,279.
The other proposal Huynh put forth was getting another $10.4 million in funding to help ensure that transfer students would be able to use the rest of their entitlement eligibility at a private institution. The entitlement eligibility is available through the Cal Grant Transfer Entitlement Award, which is given to students who didn’t get an entitlement award at the high school level but are transferring into a “bachelor’s degree-granting institution” in the state from a state community college.
According to Huynh, the $5.5 million and $10.4 million figures in her proposals are the costs of how much the bills would be in total.
Huynh learned of the ICCAP cohort program after Chapman’s political science department recommended she apply for the program. According to Charres, he worked with the department to co-endorse students who have displayed a passion for advocacy work “and who will represent themselves, their peers and the university with confidence and poise.”
Students who participate in the program can receive credit for the internship and get it approved as an upper-division major elective. Undergraduate Financial Aid will also fund all airfare and transportation costs for the Day in the Capitol event.
In the days and weeks leading up to the event, Huynh and the other co-chairs met weekly to discuss which policies they were interested in, which ones they wanted to prioritize and who they wanted to reach out to.
Huynh noted that through her time with the AICCU, she has been able to collaborate with so many students from a variety of universities, including the University of Southern California, Pomona College and Claremont McKenna College.
“It’s really interesting talking to people from different backgrounds,” Huynh said. “We have students who are first-gen, we have doctoral students (and) we have previously transferred students. It’s students from all different walks of life, so it’s interesting to collaborate and come together to a common objective and help students.”
While a lot of her cohort’s focus was geared towards Day in the Capitol, Huynh said that they have also been researching other bills. One of these is AB 680, which focuses on supporting public post-secondary education.
According to Huynh, this bill would help undocumented students who have completed their associate’s program and are trying to transfer into a four-year university.
Charres said that before the university became involved with ICCAP, it had only participated in the Day in the Capitol event, with their last time participating being in 2018. Charres found out about ICCAP when he met with individuals from the AICCU Executive Committee.
“After hearing their program’s mission, vision and objectives, the opportunities students have to grow professionally and individually and increase job opportunities thereafter, it was a program that I was committed to providing our Chapman students,” Charres wrote in an email to The Panther.
Currently, between 77% and 82% of undergraduate students at the university receive grant and scholarship aid, and around 19% of Chapman’s undergraduate students receive the Pell Grant.
“Chapman’s partnership in the program allows our university to be a part of the conversation,” Charres said. “Most importantly, ICCAP not only allows students the opportunity to strengthen their advocacy, leadership and communication skills, but be heard by members in Congress at the Day in the Capitol event in Sacramento and locally by policymakers in Orange County.”
