BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 131
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 131 (Cedillo)
As Amended May 27, 2011
Majority vote
HIGHER EDUCATION 6-3 APPROPRIATIONS 11-5
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|Ayes:|Block, Brownley, Fong, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Blumenfield, |
| |Galgiani, Lara, | |Bradford, Charles |
| |Portantino | |Calderon, Campos, Davis, |
| | | |Hall, Hill, Lara, |
| | | |Mitchell, Solorio |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Donnelly, Achadjian, |Nays:|Harkey, Donnelly, |
| |Miller | |Nielsen, Norby, Wagner |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Expands eligibility, effective July 1, 2012, for
state-administered financial aid to nonresident students
exempted from paying nonresident tuition through specified
provisions of law �AB 540 (Firebaugh), Chapter 814, Statutes of
2001] and expands eligibility for this AB 540 exemption.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes AB 540 (Firebaugh) students eligible to apply for and
participate in:
a) Any state-administered student financial aid program,
including institutional aid, to the full extent permitted
by federal law, and stipulates the number of financial aid
awards received by California resident students may not be
reduced because of this expanded eligibility; and,
b) The California Community Colleges (CCC) Board of
Governors (BOG) fee waiver program and declares this
provision to be consistent with specified immigration law.
2)Stipulates that AB 540 students are not eligible for
Competitive Cal Grant Awards unless funds remain available
after all eligible non-AB 540 students have received such
awards.
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3)Requests the University of California (UC) Board of Regents
and requires the California State University (CSU) Board of
Trustees and the CCC BOG to establish procedures and forms to
enable AB 540 students to apply for and participate in all
student aid programs administered by these segments, to the
full extent permitted by federal law.
4)Expands eligibility for the AB 540 exemption, effective
January 1, 2012, to include attendance and graduation from
California technical and adult schools, provided the student
attended a California high school for at least one year.
(Current law requires attendance for at least three years at a
California high school.)
EXISTING LAW exempts specified California nonresidents from
paying nonresident tuition at UC, CSU, and CCC, also known as
the AB 540 nonresident tuition waiver, if they meet all of the
following:
1)Attended a California high school for three or more years;
2)Graduated from a California high school or attained an
equivalent degree;
3)Registered or attended an accredited California higher
education institution beginning after fall of the 2001-02
academic year; and,
4)If an alien without lawful immigration status, has filed an
affidavit stating that the student has filed an application to
legalize his or her immigration status or will file such an
application as soon as he or she is eligible to so do.
FISCAL EFFECT : All costs would begin in 2012-13.
1)Cal-Grants . The California Student Aid Commission (CSAC),
estimates additional annual General Fund costs of about $13
million for Cal Grants Entitlement Awards beginning in
2013-14, based on current estimated enrollment of AB 540
students at the UC, CSU, and the CCC and assuming similar
application and award rates.
Applications for the Competitive Grants far exceed the number
of grants available, thus no AB 540 students are likely to
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receive grant awards in this program.
In addition to grant costs, CSAC, in order to accommodate this
new, unique cohort of students, will incur: a) first-year
General Fund (GF) costs of about $700,000 for IT programming
and other implementation activities; and, b) ongoing GF costs
of about $250,000 for IT and program support.
2)Institutional aid . For UC and CSU, making AB 540 students
eligible for institutional aid will not increase overall
spending, but may change the mix of recipients and/or the
amounts they received.
UC estimates, based on current numbers of AB 540 students,
their demographic profile, and average aid awards, that about
390 to 488 students would be eligible for $3.8 million to $4.6
million in UC institutional aid.
CSU indicates enrollment of about 3,600 AB 540 students.
Assuming up to one-half of these students received
institutional aid, with an average award of $4,200, the amount
of such aid going to AB 540 students would total about $7.6
million.
3)CCC fee waivers . The revenue loss from CCC BOG fee waivers is
offset by increased Proposition 98 funding, and is thus a
direct state cost. According to the Chancellor's Office of
the CCC, there were 36,000 AB 540 students in the system in
2009-10. Assuming these students averaged six credits per
semester, total fee revenue would be $15.6 million. If 45% of
those students received fee waivers (the statewide average),
the revenue loss (and Proposition 98 cost) would be $7
million.
4)Expanding eligibility for the AB 540 exemption, thus allowing
more students to pay in-state tuition, would result in revenue
loss to the UC, the CSU, and the CCC from these students, who
would otherwise pay nonresident tuition. For example, if the
cohort of AB 540 students at the CCC increased by just 2.5%
(900 students) and these students take an average of six units
per semester, the total revenue loss would be about $1.7
million. A similar impact at CSU would result in a revenue
loss of about $400,000. One could argue, however, that many
in this cohort are not even attending the CCC or CSU due to
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the high cost of nonresident tuition/fees, thus the above
revenue losses are likely overstated. On the other hand,
making available an AB 540 exemption to those who have
attended technical or adult schools would create additional
enrollment pressures, to varying degrees, at the segments, and
thus the associated state per-student subsidy costs.
5)The availability of state financial aid to AB 540 students
would likely, over time, increase their participation in
public postsecondary education, and thus increase all of the
above costs. Conversely, to the extent the availability of
this aid increases the success rate of these students and
reduces the time required for them to attain their educational
goals, the segments will benefit from these increased
efficiencies.
COMMENTS : Pursuant to AB 540 (Firebaugh), two groups of
students who have attended and graduated from California high
schools receive non-resident tuition status: those who do not
have legal immigration status and thus cannot establish state
residency, and those who are U.S. citizens but are residents of
another state. In 2005, Martinez v. Regents of the University
of California et al. was filed against UC, CSU, and CCC,
challenging the legality of AB 540. In October 2006, a
California Superior Court ruled in favor of AB 540, stating its
provisions were in accordance with federal law. In September
2008, a California Court of Appeal overturned the Superior
Court's ruling in Martinez v. Regents and held that California
state law authorizing in-state tuition to "illegal aliens" is
preempted by federal immigration law and, thus, void. The
decision was appealed, and in November 2010, the California
Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, reversed the Court of
Appeal and thus ruled in favor of AB 540.
Students who receive a waiver of non-resident tuition at UC, CSU
and the CCC still face significant costs, including resident
fees, books, supplies, food, rent, transportation, and other
miscellaneous items. CSAC estimates the nine-month cost of
education in 2010-11 for California students living off-campus
to be $16,497, in addition to systemwide and campus fees.
Moreover, federal law prohibits undocumented students from
receiving any aid from the federal government, such as Pell
Grants and federal student loans. Supporters of AB 131
(Cedillo) argue that, in light of recent reports highlighting
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the state's need for one million more workers with college
degrees, California cannot afford to exclude people or prevent
students from attending college, thus providing state and
institutional financial assistance to all qualified students is
essential.
Since AB 540 considers only high school attendance in order to
qualify for the nonresident tuition waiver, high school students
who combine high school attendance with attendance at an adult
or technical school may jeopardize their eligibility for the
nonresident tuition exemption if their attendance at the high
school is for less than three years. This bill therefore allows
two of the three years of required attendance to be at an adult
or technical school, provided the student attends a California
high school for one year.
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960
FN: 0000903