About Us

UCLA students, faculty and administrators came together during the summer of 2003 and officially established IDEAS at UCLA in October 2003. As a support network for undocumented and AB540 undocumented students at UCLA and across diverse communities outside of UCLA, IDEAS members collectively form camaraderie of people connected by shared experiences, struggles, and successes.

Evolving from a support network to a student organization and community outreach project, IDEAS now guides high school and community college students in their transition to institutions of higher education. In the summer of 2004, IDEAS initiated the AB540 Project to bring awareness of the AB540 legislation and to provide information on educational and financial resources available to Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside Counties. This is accomplished through informational workshops, student panels, the Annual Counselors Conference and Immigrant Youth Empowerment Conference, and other community events.

As an advocacy group IDEAS has consistently taken an active role at the local, state, and national levels to campaign for equal access to higher education for all students, regardless of their immigration status. In 2006 IDEAS joined the California DREAM Network, a state- and nation-wide network of student based organizations aimed at creating and influencing public policy affecting undocumented students.

In 2006, thanks to the support of private donors, community organizations such as our former fiscal receiver the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund (SALEF), and the Office of Senator Gilbert Cedillo, the 1st Annual Making the Dream a Reality Banquet established an ongoing scholarship for undocumented students at the university. IDEAS awarded a combined 38 scholarships to entering freshmen, transfer, and continuing undoumented students at UCLA.

The increasing number of undocumented college-bound students, whom are ineligible for any state or federal financial aid—including need based, merit-based and university scholarships—makes it urgent for IDEAS to sustain the IDEAS Making the Dream a Reality Scholarship. It is the sponsorship of concerned individuals and organizations that allows IDEAS to continue encouraging, promoting, and supporting the education of incoming and continuing undocumented students at UCLA.