Bill would give undocumented students access to state-funded work-study

Undocumented students at California public universities may gain access to state-funded work-study jobs if a new bill is passed, provided they meet certain benchmarks.

Assembly Bill 206, introduced by Assembly members Mark Stone (D-Monterey Bay) and Jose Medina (D-Riverside) late last month, would create the California Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Work-Study Program under the California Student Aid Commission.

The bill would allow students in the University of California and California State University systems to apply for state-funded work-study if they meet several markers, including exemption from paying nonresident tuition under Assembly Bill 540, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals work permit and demonstrated financial need.

Work-study jobs are partially covered for the employer by the federal or state government. Some employers look for work-study applicants because their pay is subsidized, lowering costs for the employer.

Undocumented students are not eligible for federal work-study programs, even with a DACA work permit. Up to 4,500 Dream Act students at the UC and CSU could potentially be eligible for the new program.

One goal of the bill is to give all college students a fair opportunity to finance their education and gain work experience, whether or not they are undocumented, Medina said.

“Access to need-based work-study grants is an issue of equity for these students that, as a result of inaction on the federal DREAM Act, had largely been left behind,” Stone said.

To qualify for the AB 540 exemption, students must have attended a California high school for at least three years, graduated and attested that they have applied or will apply for legal residency as soon as possible.

If a student meets all necessary benchmarks, the bill would require the California Student Aid Commission to completely pay for the cost of the student’s work-study if his or her work is completed at a UC or CSU campus or at the campus of another public school district, or pay 50 percent of the work-study if the work is done off-campus.

Some UC campuses, including UCLA, already offer their own institutional work-study programs open to undocumented students. UCLA offers the President’s Work-Study program, which is funded by a portion of the student aid the university sets aside for institutional work-study.

Students must be eligible for AB 540 and have a DACA work permit to qualify for President’s Work Study, said UCLA spokesman Ricardo Vazquez. There are 40 students participating in the program for the 2014-2015 academic year, he added.

Lester Alexander Fox-Rosales, an undocumented student who does not have DACA, said he thinks undocumented students without DACA should have a right to financial aid to help pay for their education.

Fox-Rosales, a third-year biology student, said he earned money over the summer to cover his living costs and textbooks through a research job, but he had to be paid under the table.

“I was initially worried that they were not going to be able to (pay me),” said Fox-Rosales. “I was counting on the job to pay for the books and also for the rent of the apartment.”

Vlad Stoicescu Ghica, a fourth-year political science student and DACA recipient, said he thinks the state is trying to bridge the gap in federal benefits, but he thinks the bill is only one step in a long process toward the protection of undocumented individuals’ rights.

Stoicescu Ghica said he thinks the bill’s limitation to students who are eligible for AB-540 may leave many undocumented students unable to finance their education.

The Assembly’s Committee on Higher Education will hear the bill sometime in March, after which the Senate’s Committee on Appropriations will discuss funding for the bill, Medina said.