Two bills that would allow undocumented students in California to access public and private financial aid were approved by the California Assembly this week.

The legislation, AB 131 and AB 130, also known as the California "Dream Act," were sponsored by Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles. He first proposed the bills in 2006.

The bills are different from federal legislation and would only allow undocumented students, who already qualify for in-state tuition under under a previous law, to apply for scholarships and other aid, said Conrado Terrazas, spokesman for Cedillo.

Federal legislation called the DREAM ACT has failed several times in the last decade and is again winding it's way through Congress. The federal proposal includes a pathway to legal permanent residency and eventual citizenship for students who meet certain requirements and who attend college or join the military.

Critics say the allowance would pull limited resources from native and legal students. Terrazas said it only allows undocumented students to apply if they meet the other requirements of the grant or scholarship.

In California, the proposal would apply to less than one percent of students in each of the respective college systems, Terrazas said.

Currently undocumented students who attend college under AB 540, a law which allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates, number about 2,200 at University of California schools, about 3,600 at at California State Universities, and about 36,000 at community colleges.

In Sacramento, AB 131, which deals with state funded grants or scholarships, is set to go before the Senate Education Committee on June 8. The committee is expected to review AB 130, which provides for access to private scholarships and foundation funds at public universities, later in the month.

If approved California would become the third state to allow such access to undocumented students behind Texas and New Mexico.

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