The court reversed a ruling that had dismissed a case challenging the existence of California Assembly Bill 540, stating that the bill “conflict[s] with federal law.”
On Sept. 15, the appellate justices ruled that the “state statute allows the benefit to U.S. citizens from other states only if they attend a California high school for three years. Thus, the state statute does not afford the same benefit to U.S. citizens ‘without regard to’ California residence.”
Kelley McDonald, a junior human development major, said she agreed with those challenging the AB 540 law, “because they are United States citizens.”
Under California AB 540, undocumented students — those that cannot prove their legal residence in this country — and qualifying out-of-state students have the opportunity to file as in-state students in order to avoid paying out-of-state fees.
The lower court had dismissed the case for lack of substantial issues but, given the ruling on Sept. 15, the case has taken a new twist and the law that has offered undocumented students the same subsidized tuition rate given to local residents will essentially be dismantled if the new proceedings find in favor of the plaintiffs.
Out-of-state students who did not meet the criteria to be considered AB 540 students pushed for the appeal of the originally dismissed lawsuit.
The out-of-state students also established unfair exclusion from reaping their lawfully deserved benefits, by having state law “illegally discriminate” against them “by denying them a benefit provided to illegal aliens.”
“People are overlooking one crucial factor: in-state tuition is for those who’ve actually lived in California,” Vasquez said. “In order to qualify for AB 540 you need to be in high school three years and graduate. So if you go through [that process] then you’re essentially considered a California resident, because you’ve lived…here in California…It’s not the same thing as living in New York and coming here and then just going to school and [declaring yourself] out-of-state, because you didn’t graduate from here, California.”
While an in-state student at Cal State Long Beach pays around $1,696 in tuition for a basic 12-unit semester, an out-of-state student is charged $5,764 for the same load, not including transportation and extra fees.
Experts believe AB 540 students’ academic future is in a threshold and, given the gravity of the economic situation, the ruling could possibly influence tuition policy in the nine other states where similar laws exist, according to a Sept.17 Inside Higher Education article.
“There will be no change,” Macias said. “Students should not be alarmed … they should proceed to go to school, get good grades and graduate.”
