California community college leaders want to remove restrictions that keep hundreds of thousands of students from receiving the Cal Grant by basing the size of the grant on the total cost of college attendance.
Students from low-income and immigrant families may face particularly difficult decisions in weighing colleges' financial aid offers. Some families are very resistant to loans.
The final application numbers top last year's by 5 percent after much publicity and pledges that personal data will not be shared with federal authorities.
