IDEAS at UCLA | The AB-540 Project

The IDEAS AB540 Project raises awareness to undocumented students, parents, academic counselors and the Los Angeles community about the academic and financial resources available for undocumented students in order to realize their American Dream despite the hardships they are faced with. Given their immigration status, undocumented students face many struggles in affording higher education because they cannot apply for financial aid and many scholarships. The Project’s vision is to make more information and resources available for undocumented students who wish to enroll in institutions of higher education. At the same time, we want to raise awareness about the issue in the community as a whole by also informing parents, counselors, community organizations, and community leaders. The IDEAS AB540 project carries out various commitments, including workshops, conferences, events, and site visits in order to fulfill its mission statement. Lizeth

he Project reaches out to communities with a high number of immigrants such as the Los Angeles County. Workshops are presented with information on the guidelines of Assembly Bill 540, alternate financial resources such as private scholarships, and moral encouragement to the undocumented students who often feel alone in their unsolved issue.

n a micro level, the project directs a mentoring component to serve undocumented high school students, in an effort to develop and empower them into being well qualified college bound students. To accomplish this, the Project directors train student volunteers from the student organization IDEAS at UCLA, to help facilitate the workshops and serve as mentees for the mentoring component. The goal is to outreach to high schools that have not been targeted in the past in an attempt to disperse information and resources as greatly as possible. The mentoring component holds regular scheduled sites during the year. The main goals of the mentoring program is to aid the students in forming their own support groups by strengthening their leadership skills, assisting them in their academic needs, and inspiring them to apply and ultimately attend college.

e hope to provide academic and financial information and empower undocumented students to dream without borders. With the right motivation and resources, the number of undocumented students pursuing higher education will keep on increasing and hence, give emergence to future professionals, philanthropists, and community leaders. As a result IDEAS AB540 Project is committed to being a source of information, encouragement, and empowerment to as many students in order to assist them in a path to higher or post secondary education.