SB 307 would require CSU, UC to adopt protections for students affected by immigration enforcement

Senator Cervantes presented Senate Bill 307 to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on July 16, 2025, proposing that the California State University adopt precautionary measures to protect undocumented students who are subject to federal immigration enforcement activity. The bill would require CSU to ensure a student’s absence or inability to meet academic requirements because of immigration enforcement does not affect their qualification for exemption from paying nonresident tuition and would direct campus staff and designated DREAMer resource liaisons to assist students in accessing available financial aid and academic supports.

Cervantes told the committee California enrolls about 87,000 undocumented students in higher education and that roughly 27,000 undocumented students graduate from state high schools each year. “It is imperative that we take definitive and preemptive action to shield undocumented students from the fluctuating immigration policies that may jeopardize their academic pursuits,” Cervantes said, asking the committee for an aye vote.

The bill would also require a systemwide CSU policy addressing course grades, administrative withdrawals and reenrollment for students who are detained, deported or otherwise unable to attend classes because of immigration enforcement; it additionally requires the Regents of the University of California to adopt similar measures. Eric Paredes, representing the California Faculty Association, spoke in support and was listed as a sponsor.

Committee action was recorded as “out on a b roll call.” The clerk did not read a vote tally into the transcript; the committee record in the hearing noted the measure advanced on that roll call. The transcript includes no floor schedule or final vote count.

SB 307’s provisions focus on administrative protections (tuition exemption status, academic withdrawals, reenrollment) and on institution-level assistance through staff and designated DREAMer liaisons. The bill text as presented to the committee also referenced parallel adoption by the University of California regents rather than imposing direct control over UC operations.

The bill will proceed according to legislative scheduling after the committee’s roll-call action; the transcript does not specify a next hearing or floor date.