San Francisco — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California has proposed cutting the state’s main student-grant program by about $88-million in his 2009-10 budget, including capping grants to students at public universities and phasing out a program that provides grants to 22,500 mostly nontraditional students.

In the past, awards from the state’s Cal Grant program have expanded to cover tuition increases by California State University and the University of California. But if the Republican governor’s proposal were approved by the Legislature, those awards would be capped, forcing either students or campuses to pay for a portion of the difference when tuition was raised.

The proposal would also phase out the Competitive Cal Grant program, which provides more than $100-million annually in grants, focusing on nontraditional and second-chance students. No new grants would be issued under the plan, although students with existing grants would be covered until they graduated, according Judy Heiman, an analyst at the state Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Finally, the proposal would reduce the amount of state aid available to California residents who attend private colleges in the state by about $1,400 per student, Ms. Heiman said.

Anthony Portantino, a Democrat who heads the state Assembly’s higher-education committee, said that he hoped the cuts would be rejected by the Legislature.

“The governor is fundamentally misreading one of the most important economic drivers in our state, which is helping those among us that have an aptitude to go to college but not the financial means to do so,” Mr. Portantino said.

A spokesman at the University of California, Ricardo Vazquez, said the university would step in to cover any amount that the Cal Grant program did not, although he estimated students’ loan and work burden “would increase slightly.” A representative for California State University said the university was still studying how it would respond to the proposal. —Josh Keller