Starting in the fall of 2013 a scholarship program offered by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund will assist undocumented students attend the University of California, Berkeley. The program is for students who were brought to the United States as children and who have excelled in school. Because they don’t have legal status in this country they are not eligible for federal Pell grants, federally backed loans or work-study positions. 

Because of the California Dream Act, children who were brought into the United States under the age of 16 but without proper documentation are allowed to participate in all student financial aid programs administered by the State of California. However, those programs don’t go far enough for many students. Some state universities, including UC Berkeley provide additional aid to students. This grant from the Haas, Jr. Fund will fill an additional gap.