The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)
Student assistance programs have the primary purpose of providing equal opportunity and access to postsecondary education for persons of both sexes, and all races, ancestries, incomes, ages, and geographies in California.
(b)
Student aid programs should enhance the ability of individuals to choose the most appropriate postsecondary educational opportunity and among different institutions.
(c)
Student aid programs should assist students to progress through the educational program in accordance with the individual’s educational objectives.
(d)
Student aid programs should provide assistance to individuals who desire to enroll in an independent college or university.
(e)
Student aid programs should, furthermore, complement more general statewide goals for public postsecondary education.
(f)
State purposes regarding student aid programs should complement the purposes of federal student assistance programs so as to enhance the effectiveness of state programs; the state’s purposes mentioned above serve to enhance the purposes of the Pell Grant Program.