BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 141
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 6, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Das Williams, Chair
SB 141 (Correa) - As Amended: May 8, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 35-1
SUBJECT : Postsecondary education benefits: children of deported
or voluntarily departed parents.
SUMMARY : Requires the California State University (CSU) and
California Community College (CCC) districts, and requests the
University of California (UC) exempt from non-resident tuition
charges, under specified circumstances, a United States citizen
who moved abroad as a result of his/her parent's deportation.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires the Trustees of the CSU and a CCC district to exempt
from non-resident tuition charges a student who is a United
States citizen who meets all of the following requirements:
a) Demonstrates a financial need for the exemption.
b) Has a parent or guardian who has been deported or was
permitted to depart voluntarily under the federal
Immigration and Nationality Act in accordance with Section
1229c of Title 8 of the United States Code. The student
must provide documents from the United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services evidencing the deportation or
voluntary departure of his or her parent or guardian.
c) Moved abroad as a result of the deportation or voluntary
departure.
d) Lived in California immediately before moving abroad.
The student must provide information and evidence that
demonstrates the student previously lived in California.
e) Attended a secondary school in the state for three or
more years.
f) Is in his or her first academic year as a matriculated
student in California public higher education.
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2)Requests the Regents of the UC to enact regulations and
procedures to exempt from nonresident tuition students who
meet all of the aforementioned requirements.
3)Provides for reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts if the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes uniform residency requirements for the purposes of
ascertaining the amount of fees to be paid by students at UC,
CSU and CCC and establishes various exemptions to these
residency requirements.
2)Authorizes CCC districts to admit a nonresident student and
requires that these students be charged a nonresident tuition
fee, with certain specific exemptions, including authorizing a
CCC district to exempt any nonresident who is both a citizen
and resident of a foreign country, if the nonresident has
demonstrated financial need for the exemption, up to a maximum
of 10 percent of the nonresident foreign students attending
the CCC district.
3)Exempts specified California nonresidents from paying
nonresident tuition at UC, CSU, and the CCCs if they meet all
of the following requirements:
a) Attended a California high school for three or more
years.
b) Graduated from a California high school or attained an
equivalent degree.
c) Registered or attended an accredited California higher
education institution not before the fall of the 2001-02
academic year.
d) Filed an affidavit, if an alien without lawful
immigration status, stating that the student has filed an
application to legalize their immigration status or will
file such an application as soon as eligible to do so.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the number of students who would be eligible for
in-state tuition under this bill is unknown; however,
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potentially substantial fee revenue loss could result from this
proposal:
CCC: Each eligible CCC student would pay $46 per unit, rather
than $244 per unit. For each full time student (enrolled in 30
units per academic year), CCC would lose $5,920 in fee revenue.
CSU: Each eligible student enrolling as an undergraduate in the
CSU would be eligible to pay $5,472 per year, instead of $5,472
+ $372 per unit (which would be an additional $11,160 per year
for two 15-unit course load semesters).
UC: Each eligible student enrolling as an undergraduate in the
UC would be eligible to pay $12,192 instead of $35,070, a
difference of $22,878.
COMMENTS : Purpose of this Bill . According to the author, it is
estimated that over 5 million children are living in the U.S.
with at least one undocumented parent. Approximately 75% of
these children are U.S. citizens. When undocumented parents are
deported, their U.S. born children are often forced to move
abroad. As a result, these children lose their state residency,
and with it, affordable access to California institutions of
higher learning. This bill would restore affordable access to
California resident tuition for children forced to live abroad
as a result of their parent's deportation.
Financial need . To qualify for the non-resident tuition waiver
provided in this bill, a student must, among other requirements,
demonstrate financial need. The income levels and process for
determining financial need are not outlined in this legislation.
CCC notes that one option would be to utilize the Board of
Governor's (BOG) Fee Waiver income threshold and application
process. Alternatively, as U.S. citizens, students would be
eligible to complete the FAFSA, which the segments could then
utilize to determine financial need. The bill in its current
form leaves these questions to CCC, CSU, and UC, to be addressed
through the regulatory process.
Voluntary departure . Students eligible for this benefit must,
among other requirements, have a parent or guardian who has been
deported or was permitted to depart voluntarily under the
federal Immigration and Nationality Act. The terms of voluntary
departure are outlined in section 1229c of Title 8 of the United
States Code and provide that the Attorney General may permit an
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individual to voluntarily depart the United States at the
individuals own expense in lieu of being subject to deportation
proceedings. To be eligible for voluntary departure, an
individual must not be deportable for conviction of an
aggravated felony or terrorist activities.
Undergraduate and graduate programs . As currently drafted, this
bill would provide non-resident tuition waivers to qualifying
students in their first academic year as a matriculated student
in California public higher education; the benefit is available
to students entering undergraduate or graduate level programs.
Further, the benefit would be available to a qualifying student
regardless of the length of time the student has been separated
from the U.S. following the deportation/voluntary departure. If
the Author and/or Committee feel it appropriate, this bill could
be amended to narrow the scope of the benefit to limit the
number of years of separation or limit the benefit to enrollment
in undergraduate level programs only.
California secondary school . This bill requires eligible
students to, among other requirements, to have attended three
years of secondary school in California. Secondary school, as
defined in Education Code §52-53 for purposes of public
education, includes junior high school and high school. It
should be noted that public postsecondary educational
institutions do not currently access the junior high school
records of applicants. The process for accessing and verifying
junior high school educational documents would need to be
addressed by the segments in the implementation of this bill.
Committee staff recommends an amendment clarifying that
secondary school, for purposes of this bill, means a California
public or private school that meets the definition contained in
Education Code §52-53.
UC Office of the President (UCOP) has requested an amendment to
clarify that students must provide documentation of their
secondary school attendance in California. Specifically, UC
states "we have struggled with the administrative implementation
of the bill, specifically, how our campuses would obtain
transcripts from students whose three years of secondary school
included grades 7 and 8. In our previous communications with the
author, we focused on narrowing the bill to minimize these
administrative challenges. However, we believe this amendment
provides a simpler and more inclusive solution, especially since
SB 141 currently requires students to provide documentation
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regarding deportation of their parents and evidence of their
prior residence in California."
Establishing residency . This bill establishes that a student
must be in his or her first academic year as a matriculated
student in California public higher education in order to be
eligible for the benefit. This language appears intended to
provide students the waiver for the one year necessary to
establish residency. Committee staff recommends an amendment
clarifying that the student, in order to qualify for the
non-resident tuition waiver, must be living in California and
must file an affidavit with the institution stating an intention
to establish residency in California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Catholic Conference
California Communities United Institute
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by : Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960