By California is spending tens of millions of dollars on grants, loans and fee waivers for college students who are in the country illegally, while extending in-state tuition rates unavailable to many American students from outside the state.
More than 102,000 undocumented students were enrolled at California colleges and universities as of 2023, the largest number in the country. Those who qualify can receive Cal Grants through the California Dream Act Application, borrow through the California Dream Loan program and avoid nonresident tuition under Assembly Bill 540. They may also qualify for the California College Promise Grant, which waives the $46-per-unit enrollment fee at community colleges. California officials confirm that undocumented students meeting AB 540 requirements may receive state and institutional financial aid.
The Dream Act program was estimated to cost $65 million when it began. The state also provides the University of California system with $2.5 million annually for Dream Loans, an amount matched by another $2.5 million from the university. A recent UC report to the Legislature said the program could serve as many as 4,000 undocumented students but acknowledged that “Demand for the program has not yet matched the funding available.”
The benefits have drawn criticism from California families struggling to afford tuition without substantial financial assistance. Ava Schmidt, a 21-year-old political science major at the University of Southern California, received $2,000 in aid last year even as annual tuition at the private university climbed above $75,000. Her father tapped retirement savings and borrowed money to cover the remaining costs, while Schmidt works off campus and struggles to pay for rent and groceries.
“I felt like I did all the work to earn my spot in this in this school,” Schmidt told The California Post. “And yet I’m the one that’s not getting aid, and undocumented illegal aliens are instead getting that money.”
Cooper Vincik, a 21-year-old Chapman University senior from San Diego, expects to graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in debt. With annual tuition at the private university approaching $70,000, he attended Santa Barbara City College for two years before transferring to reduce his costs.
“It’s a very tricky subject, especially in this state, because one of my best friends growing up, his parents illegally immigrated to this country,” Vincik said. “I think we’re such a close nation,” he added. “But the bottom line is, every other country, including Mexico, if we snuck over, they would turn us right back, unless we were contributing something.”
Vincik said undocumented students at his community college appeared to receive greater access to assistance and that staff instructed students on what to do if federal immigration officers came to campus. “It was very ‘illegal first,’” he said. “We’d have all these different procedures to kind of hide them from ICE, and they’d walk us through this stuff,” he added. “They’d give us little cards telling us where to call if we saw ICE.” “So, it’s really an issue on multiple ends,” he said.
California’s policies date to 2001, when the state enacted AB 540 allowing qualifying students—including those living in the country illegally—to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. The California Dream Act later made those students eligible for state and campus-funded assistance, although they remain ineligible for federal financial aid. State figures show that only 14% of California’s estimated undocumented college students received financial aid during the 2021-22 academic year.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said California’s high taxes and cost of living make the spending difficult to justify. “Every day we see a new way Californians are being ripped off by the system, and we’ve had enough of it,” he said. “We pay the highest taxes in the country for the worst results.”
He’s not the only one who’s notice that California is run poorly.
Hilton said he would seek to end state-funded aid for undocumented students if elected. He has also proposed eliminating California’s income tax for workers earning less than $150,000.
A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom disputed the suggestion that undocumented students receive preferential treatment. “California has improved college affordability and access,” the spokesman said.
The spokesman said a quarter of students in the University of California and California State University systems take out loans, along with nearly half of those attending nonprofit private colleges and more than half at for-profit institutions. During the 2022-23 academic year, 23% of first-time, full-time California undergraduates had student loans, compared with 38% nationwide.
[READ MORE: Fetterman Makes A Surprise Appearance]
