California Dream Act Fact Sheet 2011
Created by the Dream Resource Center
During the 2011 legislative cycle, California Governor Jerry Brown signed two bills: Assembly Bill
130 and Assembly Bill 131 packaged as the ‘California Dream Act’ which allow qualifying ‘AB 540’
status holders to access state and non-state resourced funds to finance their college or university
education. These bills will be referred to as AB 130 and AB 131.
Summary
AB 130 would allow eligible AB 540 students to apply for and receive scholarships at California
public colleges and universities derived from non-state funds. This bill will go into effect January
1, 2012.
AB 131 would allow eligible AB 540 student to apply for and receive financial aid at California
public colleges and universities partially derived from state funds. This bill will go into effect
January 1, 2013.
Background
AB 540, a California law passed in 2001, allows students to pay in-state tuition rates if they meet all
of the following requirements:
1) Attended a California high school for 3 or more years.
2) Graduated from a CA high school with a high school diploma or attained the equivalent (GED).
3) After getting accepted to a California public university or college, if undocumented, the student
must file an affidavit with the intended college or university stating their eligibility under AB 540
and intention of applying for a lawful immigration status as soon as they are eligible.
Before AB 130 and AB 131, AB 540 status holders who were undocumented did not qualify for
financial aid administered by the state or their respective institutions.
AB 130
What does AB 130 do for undocumented students?
In the past, California public colleges and universities were bound by the state to withhold
financial assistance to their undocumented students. AB 130 gives California public colleges and
universities the opportunity to allow undocumented students to apply and compete for scholarship
awards. These include scholarships funded through private donors, alumni contributions or
individual departmental efforts.
How can an undocumented student access funds made available by AB 130?
Students must apply and compete for available awards as outlined by their respective college or
university. Provisions of AB 130 will not go into effect until January 1, 2012.
AB 131
What does AB 131 do for undocumented students?
In the past, the State of California did not administer a financial aid program for undocumented
students. This bill allows undocumented students who qualify for AB 540 to participate in state
funded financial aid programs:

AB 131 calls for California’s community colleges to allow students to apply for the Board of
Governor’s Fee Waivers, which waive the educational fees of qualifying low-income
students.

AB 131 also calls for the establishment of procedures and forms that would enable current
AB 540 status holders to apply for, and participate in, other student aid programs
administered by California’s public colleges and universities such as institutional aid
derived from tuition revenue.

Lastly, AB 131 calls for the State of California to allow AB-540 status holders to participate
in any state-administered financial aid programs such as Cal Grants. However, funds for
the Competitive Cal Grants will not be made available to undocumented students unless
funding remains available after their California resident counterparts have received theirs.
Please see http://www.calgrants.org/ for information on the different types of Cal Grants
that California administers. According to a statement released by the Office of Governor
Jerry Brown, “The California Department of Finance estimates that 2,500 students will
qualify for Cal Grants as a result of AB 131.
How can an undocumented student access funds made available by AB 131?
For institutional-based awards, students must apply and compete for available awards as outlined
by their respective college or university. For Cal Grants or other state funded assistance, the
California Student Aid Commission will develop a system for applying to aid, given that
undocumented students cannot apply for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) in
order to determine their income level and need. Information on new processes will be disseminated
as soon as it is available. Provisions of AB 131 will not go into effect until January 1, 2013.
For questions or more information, please contact the Dream Resource Center.
www.dreamresourcecenter.org
dreamresourcecenter@gmail.com
(213) 480-4155 ext. 213