Some Mexican Students Will Pay Less to Attend California Community Colleges
2023-10-18
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1California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law last week permitting low-income Mexican students to pay the same cost as Californians to attend some community colleges.
2The law starts next year and will run as a pilot, or test program, for five years.
3The program is open to Mexican students who live within 72 kilometers of the U.S. border in California.
4In California, the Education Data Initiative says the average yearly cost of tuition at community colleges for Californians is $1,500.
5For out-of-state students, the yearly cost is nearly $10,000.
6It means a possible saving of more than $8,000 for some Mexican students under the program.
7David Alvarez is a California state lawmaker who worked on the law.
8He said many Mexicans travel between the two countries to work or visit family.
9And the law will help make education readily available to prepare them for jobs.
10Alvarez said in a statement that the program would help "prepare a more diverse population among our workforce."
11Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, is just 11 kilometers from the U.S. border with Mexico.
12The college's president Mark Sanchez said many students at the school split their time between the two countries.
13"Without this pilot, we risk everything in terms of loss of talent," he told lawmakers at a hearing last June.
14Students from Mexico who decide to go to Southwestern College will save about $7,000 based on the lower cost for Californians.
15The law requires community colleges to report by 2028 on the attendance and the number of students receiving in-state tuition under the program.
16In 2015, California passed a similar law that permitted students who lived close to its border with Nevada to attend Lake Tahoe Community College at in-state tuition.
17I'm Dan Friedell.
1California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law last week permitting low-income Mexican students to pay the same cost as Californians to attend some community colleges. 2The law starts next year and will run as a pilot, or test program, for five years. The program is open to Mexican students who live within 72 kilometers of the U.S. border in California. 3In California, the Education Data Initiative says the average yearly cost of tuition at community colleges for Californians is $1,500. For out-of-state students, the yearly cost is nearly $10,000. It means a possible saving of more than $8,000 for some Mexican students under the program. 4David Alvarez is a California state lawmaker who worked on the law. He said many Mexicans travel between the two countries to work or visit family. And the law will help make education readily available to prepare them for jobs. 5Alvarez said in a statement that the program would help "prepare a more diverse population among our workforce." 6Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, is just 11 kilometers from the U.S. border with Mexico. The college's president Mark Sanchez said many students at the school split their time between the two countries. 7"Without this pilot, we risk everything in terms of loss of talent," he told lawmakers at a hearing last June. 8Students from Mexico who decide to go to Southwestern College will save about $7,000 based on the lower cost for Californians. 9The law requires community colleges to report by 2028 on the attendance and the number of students receiving in-state tuition under the program. 10In 2015, California passed a similar law that permitted students who lived close to its border with Nevada to attend Lake Tahoe Community College at in-state tuition. 11I'm Dan Friedell. 12Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 13________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15income -n. the amount of money a person, or family, earns from work 16tuition-n. the cost of attending school 17diverse-adj. relating to the number of different things in a group, such as the backgrounds and nationalities of students at a college 18talent -n. an ability to do something well 19We want to hear from you. If you lived in Mexico would you try to attend college in California?