CA University Opens Taxpayer-Funded Center for Illegal Immigrant Students

Monica Sanchez | March 9, 2015
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A public university in California just opened a center for students living in the U.S. illegally to receive a number of services ranging from academic and career counseling to information on how to secure financial aid.

The fourth of its kind in the California State University system, the “Dream Success Center” will serve as a resource hub for the approximated 650 illegal immigrants attending Cal State Long Beach.

“It is estimated there are some 650 AB540 and/or undocumented students at CSULB,” the university writes in a press release. “The Dream Success Center will provide a place for those students to receive support and services that help meet some of their special needs—referrals to financial assistance and information on programs and services designed to improve retention and graduation rates—as well as a location where they can connect with one another."

(via Twitter)

“The center also will provide computers, career development and other academic services," says CSULB.

Many undocumented students attending CSULB have been able to do so thanks to the California DREAM Act, or AB 540, an assembly bill made into law back in 2001 granting illegal immigrants who graduate from California high schools in-state tuition rates, or “tuition equity,” as opposed to the more expensive nonresident tuition rates. 

One could argue that the benefits offered by the university's brand new campus resource center go beyond the bill by prioritizing the success of illegal immigrants.

“A center serves as not only a physical space dedicated to their unique needs as students but as a commitment from the university to prioritize student success,” said Edgar Romo, full-time coordinator of the Dream Success Center and AB 540 ally.

“For those looking to attend [CSULB], it can signal a welcoming environment and a place of academic and personal support.” 

Exec. Director of Media and Digital News at CSULB, Mike Uhlenkamp reportedly confirmed in an email to Campus Reform that the new illegal immigrant student center is being funded by the public university’s general fund, which includes student fees and state appropriations.

Other universities offering similar services to its undocumented students include Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal State Los Angeles.

Whether this will become a larger trend among public universities across the nation, or perhaps primarily in states most heavily populated by illegal immigrants, has yet to be determined.

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