Associated Students Student Lobby is an organization that strives to unite activism, professionalism, and strategic action planning while implementing local, statewide, and national campaigns. We initiate, develop, and implement campaigns that progressively alter the current position of underrepresented students and all students striving to get a higher education. Student Lobby fights to instigate change within our current political reality, focusing on empowering students to reverse the trend of escalating student costs and declining accessibility and quality in higher education.

One main priority for UCSA’s undergraduate campaign is winning access to institutional aid (in the form of grants) for AB 540 students. AB 540 students are those who qualify for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in California if they meet specified criteria, regardless of their immigration status. All AB 540 students are required to attend a California high school for at least three years and graduate or earn their GED, but not all AB 540 are eligible to compete for financial aid. Consequently AB 540 students are stuck in a situation in which they are required to pay their student fees and tuition out of pocket but cannot access any of the financial aid dollars (institutional aid) that their fees and tuition pay into. According to the September 2010 Report on AB 540 Tuition Exemptions authored by the UC Office of the President, at least 421 potentially undocumented undergraduate students were enrolled in the UC during the 2008-09 school year. Moreover, there are potentially thousands more throughout the Cal State Universities and California Community Colleges. As a key component of the California DREAM Act, UCSA will work to pass statewide legislation that ensures all AB 540 students are eligible to compete for institutional aid.

Student Lobby further builds strong coalitions with other on campus, statewide, and national grassroots organizations, while utilizing hands on activist and organizing training modules towards strategic implementation of our goals, all the while giving back to those communities in greatest need. Student Lobby acts as the official avenue in which students train to be effective lobbyists, working with state and federal legislators, political officials, the media, and various UC staff members, administrators, and organizations. Through Student Lobby, students develop a thorough knowledge of the governing structure of the state, including the California State Assembly, Senate, various committees, current elected representatives, and current legislative policies regarding the status of Higher Education and most significantly, the state budget. Members of Student Lobby take upon themselves primary ownership of the implementation process of all campaigns, which further develops their skills, knowledge, and passion needed to pursue a career in public policy and political/legislative affairs.”