California Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed raising GPA requirements for students applying for Cal Grants.

Cal Grants help more than 65,000 California State University students afford college, including the cost of living expenses, tuition and textbooks, said Erik Fallis, CSU spokesman.

Brown’s proposal would reduce the budget for Cal Grants by $131.2 million.

The 2012-13 budget proposes an increase in GPA requirements: Section “A” from 3.0 to 3.25, Cal Grant “B” from 2.0 to 2.75 and the community college transfer from 2.4 to 2.75.

More than 26,000 students would be impacted by Brown’s proposal.

Cal Grants from section “A” are competitive awards based on academic standing. Students with Cal Grant “A” can receive up to $5,472 for any public or private college.

Cal Grant “B” is for first year students who need money for the cost of living and textbook fees.

Cal Grant “C” is geared towards assisting students with tuition who are participating in vocational programs.

“Out of the 5,900 students, we don’t know the entering economic group,” Fallis said. “The Cal Grant is designed for lower income students so the impact is greatest on the financial need.”

The California State Student Association estimates about 5,900 students applying for Cal Grants to attend UCs and CSUs will be affected by this change.

If transfer students do not get the aid they need to come to a CSU through Cal Grants, there could be a shift to Pell Grants.

“As a state that does not always get the best allocation of funding from the federal government, I would tread carefully in removing grants in hope that the federal Pell grants will step up in place of the Cal Grants,” said senior communications major Loyd Aadil.

The Pell Grant budget has not been affected by the proposal, but this resource could be soaked up by incoming students who cannot get Cal Grants.

“I have grant ‘B’ and I believe … I can’t afford school without it,” said senior child development major Robert Hrabak II. “An increase of 0.75 to the requirements means I’d have no room for slack.”

Hrabak, who is a transfer student, said he works part-time, owns his own home, goes to the gym and has two dogs. Free time is not on his long to-do list.

If the proposal goes through, Hrabak said he would possibly have to drop to part-time student status so he would not “do himself in” and still be able to hold the GPA requirement of 2.75 or higher.

Kim Nava, director of news services at Sac State, said 1,147 incoming transfer students have received Cal Grants for 2010-11. The 2011-12 numbers are not known yet. There are 11,492 students receiving Cal Grants who are already attending Sac State.

“When you cut spending, you reduce the number of people we educate,” said Sac State alumnus Josh Roberts, and professor of English at Sacramento City College.

Elisha Angrisani can be reached at [email protected].