The characteristics of California's Student Aid Commission grant program applicants and recipients were examined to assess the extent to which aid programs meet state goals. Attention is directed to major problems confronting the three Cal Grant programs and a range of possible policy and program options. The three programs are: Cal Grant A State Scholarship Program; Cal Grant B Opportunity Grant Program, and Cal Grant C Occupational Training Grant Program. Policy options for the number and size of grants, eligibility requirements, the distribution of grants, and improved procedures are addressed, along with the question of program consolidation of the financial aid programs. Ten major trends concerning the aid programs, student applicants, and grant recipients are identified, including: increasing competition for available awards; low rates of application completion, particularly in the Cal Grant B program; little increase in applications and declines in eligible applicants for private institutions; relative declines in middle-income applicants; an increasing gap between number of grants and number of financially needy applicants; an increasing impact of eligibility limitations; and a reduced proportion of awards to new high school graduates. (SW)