Gov. Brown announces plan to allot $30 million for undocumented students
Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders in the state legislature announced $30 million in funding for undocumented students Tuesday.
By Rupan Bharanidaran
Sept. 12, 2017 3:22 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown and leaders in the state legislature announced a proposal Tuesday to allocate $30 million to support undocumented students.
The state proposes spending an additional $20 million on immigrant legal services through the One California program, a state program that supports immigrant Californians. In addition, the state is proposing an additional $10 million in financial aid for undocumented students, including $7 million for community college students, $2 million for California State University students and $1 million for the University of California students, through the California Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Loan Program.
The announcement follows last week’s decision by President Donald Trump to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program enacted by former President Barack Obama in 2012 that deferred deportation for undocumented individuals brought to the United States as children.
The California DREAM Loan Program, which is funded by the UC and the state, began providing loans to undocumented students in 2016. The California Legislature created the program in 2014 to support undocumented students because they are not eligible for federal aid.
Under the program, each student can take out a maximum of $20,000 in loans during their time in the UC. The interest rate for loans in the 2017-2018 academic year is 4.45 percent, which is equal to the interest rate for federal direct subsidized Stafford loans.
The UC said in a statement Tuesday it is grateful for the proposed funding and is confident the additional funding will help undocumented students achieve their educational goals.
