BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                          AB 1197
                                                          Page  1

Date of Hearing:  April 20, 1999

             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION 
                       Ted Lempert, Chair
         AB 1197 (Firebaugh) - As Amended:  April 6, 1999
  
SUBJECT  :  Assessment of Nonresident Tuition

  SUMMARY  :  For purposes of assessing mandatory systemwide fees  
and nonresident tuition to students at the California State  
University (CSU) and California Community Colleges (CCC), this  
measure requires that any student who has (1) attended a  
California high school for at least three years, (2) graduated  
from high school and (3) is admitted to a CSU or CCC campus will  
only pay mandatory systemwide fees, not nonresident tuition.   
The University of California (UC) is not included under the  
provisions of this measure.

  EXISTING LAW  :  Current law establishes residency requirements  
for students attending a CSU or CCC campus and requires the CSU  
and CCCs to charge nonresident tuition to any student who is not  
a California resident; furthermore, current law precludes  
undocumented students from establishing residency in California.  


  FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown.

  COMMENTS :

 The educational rights of undocumented students is a  
  longstanding issue that has been debated within legislative  
  and judicial arenas for years.  Current law, as noted above,  
  was contested in a 1985 court cast ("  Leticia A" v. Board of  
  Regents of the University of California  ) when a group of  
  undocumented students challenged UC and CSU for not  
  recognizing them as California residents and charging them  
  out-of-state (nonresident) tuition.  At that time, the court  
  ruled that charging nonresident tuition to undocumented  
  students was unconstitutional because both UC and CSU used a  
  different definition of "residency" for undocumented aliens as  
  it used for US citizens.

 The 1985 decision was later overridden by a 1990 Court of  
  Appeal, Second District decision (  Regents of the University of  
  California v. Los Angeles County Superior Court  ), also known  








                                                          AB 1197
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  as the  Bradford  decision.  In  Bradford  , the court held that  
  current law (as noted in the existing law portion of this  
  analysis) was constitutional and that the related Education  
  Code sections were to be upheld.  As a result of  Bradford  ,  
  current law regarding the assessment of nonresident tuition  
  charges on undocumented students is being enforced at  
  California public colleges.

 Both the  Leticia A  case and the  Bradford  case dealt solely  
  with the issue of defining "California Residency" for purposes  
  of assessing nonresident tuition, and prior legislation on  
  this topic (AB 592, Polanco/1991) would have statutorily  
  altered the definition of "California Residency" as it applies  
  to college tuition.

 This measure does not change the definition of "California  
  Resident" nor does it alter current law regarding the  
  assessment of nonresident tuition to students that are not  
  "California Residents".  Instead, this measure simply requires  
  that the CSU and CCC charge  only  mandatory systemwide fees and  
   not  nonresident tuition to those students who have (1)  
  attended a California high school for at least three years,  
  (2) graduated from high school and (3) is admitted to a CSU or  
  CCC campus.

 In the current year, CSU resident students pay $1,506 in  
  mandatory systemwide fees, while nonresident students pay  
  $9,253.  The amount for nonresident tuition will increase to  
  $9,991 in the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

 According to the author, many of the students that would  
  benefit under this measure are children of parents who have  
  been granted amnesty by the federal government and are waiting  
  for their own applications for citizenship to be accepted by  
  the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).  The  
  majority of these students consider California their home and  
  are expected to become citizens.

 For many of these students, the biggest barrier to attending  
  and enrolling in college is the cost.  Under federal and state  
  law, undocumented students, regardless of their academic  
  achievement or financial need, are not eligible for federal or  
  state financial aid nor are they eligible to receive  
  campus-based aid or subsidized student loans.









                                                          AB 1197
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 This measure will help talented California high school  
  students, who cannot afford to pay nonresident tuition, to  
  afford college.  While the costs of attending CSU and CCC will  
  still be difficult for many families to meet, this measure  
  takes a positive step towards ensuring that postsecondary  
  education truly is accessible and affordable for all our  
  state's students.

  REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

  Support  

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
National Center for Youth Law
Estrella Community Development Corporation 
Watts/Century Latino Organization
National Center for Youth Law
Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
California Immigrant Welfare Collaborative
Numerous Individuals

  Opposition  

None on file.
  


Analysis Prepared by  :    Amy Supinger / HIGHER ED. / (916)  
319-3960