WHEREAS, AB 91 (Alvarez)[1] of the 23-24 Legislature established In state tuition for students who live in a 50 mile radius south of the California-Mexico Border and AB 3015 (Ramos)[2] of the 23-24 Legislature if passed would have gave in state tuition to those who are members of a federally recognized tribes thats land lays across the state border of California Oregon, Nevada or Arizona;
WHEREAS, The University of California Native American Opportunity Plan[3] waves tuition and fees to all students “enrolled in federally recognized Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native tribes”;
WHEREAS, “In 2021, 28% of the 18–24-year-old Native American population were enrolled in college compared to 38% of the overall U.S. population” and from 2010 to 2022 “Native American enrollment has declined from 196,000 to 121,000, a 38% decrease”[4]; and
WHEREAS, By providing free tuition to potential Native American students who are residents of California and giving In state tuition to potential students of a federally recognized tribes that land lays across the state border of California and Oregon, Nevada or Arizona would increase enrollment of Native American students; Now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate for free community college for all California residents who are enrolled in any federally recognized tribes or who can prove descendancy of Native American ancestry; and
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges advocate for the reintroductionof AB 3015 (Ramos, 2023) that would waive out of state tuition for Native American students whose tribal land lies across the state border of California and Arizona, Nevada, or Oregon.
Citations
[1]https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB91
[2] https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB3015/id/3013346
[4]https://pnpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/NativeAmericanFactSheet-Nov-2023.pdf