Postsecondary education benefits: crime victims.

Existing law, the Donahoe Higher Education Act, sets forth the missions and functions of the public and independent institutions of higher education. The provisions of the Donahoe Higher Education Act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California, by appropriate resolution, make them applicable. Existing law exempts specified students from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges and establishes financial aid programs for students, as specified. Existing law requires the governing board of each community college district to charge resident students a fee of $46 per unit per semester and to waive that fee for specified students. This bill would require students who are victims of trafficking, domestic violence, and other serious crimes who have been granted a specified status under federal law, to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges, and to be eligible to apply for, and participate in, all student financial aid programs and scholarships administered by a public postsecondary educational institution or the State of California, to the same extent as individuals who are admitted to the United States as refugees under specified federal law. The bill would request the University of California to adopt policies that are consistent with those provisions. The bill would also require community college districts to waive the fees of those students to the same extent as individuals who are admitted to the United States as refugees under specified federal law. To the extent the bill would place additional requirements on community college districts to exempt those students from nonresident tuition and to administer financial aid programs and scholarships, and provide fee waivers to those students, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.