The expense of attending college is one factor that may explain why low-income students often drop out of school. In California, despite generous state aid and relatively low fees at community colleges, many low-income students still have substantial college-related costs that they cannot cover. To compound matters, federal support for students has come under intense pressure, heightening the importance of available resources for low-income students. In 2008, MDRC launched the national Performance-based Scholarship Demonstration, now running in six states, to evaluate whether performance-based scholarships--an innovative type of financial assistance that is intended to supplement existing financial aid--are effective at improving academic success. This brief describes the California program, through which students are eligible for scholarships that vary in amount and duration. The California study is aiming to learn more about the types of scholarships that work best for low-income students and to inform policymakers and others about the academic gains that modest amounts of additional aid can trigger. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures, and 8 notes.)