Undocumented students eligible for USAC textbook scholarship
By Joseph Vescera
Dec. 4, 2013 11:35 p.m.
For the first time, undocumented students can apply for textbook scholarships funded by the undergraduate student government.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council’s Financial Supports Commission gives textbook scholarships of $200 each. The program started in 2008 and awards about 50 scholarships each quarter.
Next quarter will be the first time undocumented students are eligible to receive the scholarship.
The change is the result of California Assembly Bill 131, which allows certain undocumented students to apply for state-funded financial aid, including the USAC textbook scholarship. Gov. Brown signed AB 131 in 2011, but minor changes the governor made to the bill delayed its implementation until January 2013.
AB 131 affects undocumented students who qualify under AB 540, a state bill that allowsundocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates.
About 1,500 students apply for the USAC textbook scholarship each quarter. Despite the demand for the scholarships, some of the funds allocated to students have gone unclaimed in previous years.
USAC Financial Supports Commissioner Lauren Rogers said she thinks allowing undocumented students to apply for the textbook scholarship makes the program more effective.
The student group Improving Dreams, Equality, Access and Success, or IDEAS, is the official voice of undocumented students at UCLA.
Seth Ronquillo, co-chair of IDEAS and fourth-year film and linguistics student, said he knows many undocumented students who struggle to pay for their college education even with the California DREAM Act, which includes AB 131 and allows AB 540 students to receive financial aid.
“(The scholarship) is a real breakthrough for undocumented students to be able to receive financial aid because so many struggle financially,” said Ronquillo, a former Daily Bruin columnist.
Rogers said the Financial Supports Commission will advertise the winter quarter textbook scholarships directly to undocumented students, since winter will be their first chance to apply. Rogers added that her office plans to contact IDEAS’ and the Bruin Resource Center’s undocumented student programs to educate students about the scholarship and encourage them to apply.
The textbook scholarship program may see some additional changes this year.
Rogers said her office plans to survey recipients to collect data on their use of the funds and to remind recipients at the end of each quarter how much money they still have left.
In previous years, the textbook scholarship program was financed by USAC surplus funds. This year, the program was financed by surplus funds from the scholarships last year and $3,283 in USAC discretionary funds.
Rogers said the surpluses have largely been a result of recipients not spending their entire scholarships, and she thinks identifying possible reasons for this will help reduce surpluses in future years.
Rogers said she hopes to raise more money from outside of USAC so she can expand the scholarship program and meet more of the demand for textbook financial aid.
Applications for the winter 2014 USAC textbook scholarship are due Wednesday. To apply, students can go to USAC’s website.
