Educational equity: immigration status.

Existing law, the Equity in Higher Education Act, states the policy of the State of California to afford all persons, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other specified characteristic, equal rights and opportunities in postsecondary educational institutions of the state, and states that the purpose of related existing law is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies therefor. Existing law prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination on those bases and states that each characteristic includes a perception that the person has that characteristic or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, that characteristic. This bill would expressly reference immigration status in the specified characteristics for purposes of those provisions. The bill would specify that nothing in the Equity in Higher Education Act shall be construed to require a postsecondary educational institution to offer admission or student financial aid to a nonimmigrant alien, as specified, except as provided, and that nothing in the act shall be construed to change a student's eligibility for state financial aid.