January 2026
Financial Aid
Middle Class Scholarship Program
Key Information by Segment
| 2024-25 Actual |
2025-26 Revised |
2026-27 Proposed |
Change from 2025-26 | ||
| Amount | Percent | ||||
| Recipients | |||||
| CSU | 250,587 | 239,590 | 251,569 | 11,979 | 5% |
| UC | 101,848 | 109,984 | 115,483 | 5,499 | 5 |
| CCCa | 117 | 93 | 98 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 352,552 | 349,667 | 367,150 | 17,483 | 5% |
| Spending (Dollars in Millions) | |||||
| CSU | $711 | $719 | $360 | -$358 | -50%b |
| UC | 298 | 335 | 183 | -152 | -45 |
| CCCa | 1 | —c | —c | —c | -45 |
| Total | $1,009 | $1,054 | $544d | -$511 | -48% |
| Average Award | |||||
| CSU | $2,836 | $2,999 | $1,432 | -$1,568 | -52%b |
| UC | 2,926 | 3,050 | 1,586 | -$1,464 | -48 |
| CCCa | 5,255 | 4,227 | 2,198 | -$2,029 | -48 |
| Note: Table reflects data provided by the California Student Aid Commission in October 2025. Projections for 2026-27 assume a 5 percent increase in recipients and, as proposed by the administration, a 50 percent decrease in award coverage (from 35 percent award coverage in 2025-26 to 17.5 percent coverage in 2026-27). Table shows program costs in the year they occur. Beginning in 2025-26, the state began funding the program in arrears, such that it will appropriate funding for 2025-26 costs in 2026-27 and appropriate funding for 2026-27 costs in 2027-28. | |||||
| a In addition to undergraduate students at UC and CSU, CCC students in bachelor's degree programs are eligible for Middle Class Scholarships. | |||||
| b CSAC used a different methodology to estimate CSU 2025-26 MCS spending compared to spending for the other segments, yielding a larger percentage reduction in 2026-27 at CSU. | |||||
| c Less than $500,000. | |||||
| d Reflects LAO estimate. The Governor's budget includes $513 million. | |||||