For the new $20 million Emergency Financial Assistance Grant program, funds are directed to California community college students who have filed a California Dream Act Application (CADAA) and have demonstrated unmet financial need after applying for available state aid. The award is designed to fill gaps for students who still face financial hardship after Cal Grant and other aid sources have been applied. For the $15 million in Dreamer Resource Liaison funding, direct emergency financial assistance is targeted at AB 540 students and undocumented or mixed-status family students who demonstrate need; individual community college districts determine specific eligibility within state guidelines. Community college districts also retain discretion to use SEA Program funds for emergency assistance, and the state’s toolkit for emergency assistance recommends to community colleges that eligibility for emergency grants should be kept simple and not rely on FAFSA completion first, explicitly recommending that emergency aid providers work with students on filling out a FAFSA or CADAA while EA is being processed.

The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office is responsible for distributing both the $20 million Emergency Financial Assistance Grant funds and the $15 million Dreamer Resource Liaison funds to community college districts. Individual community college districts then administer the funds at the campus level, with discretion to design specific application and disbursement processes consistent with state guidelines.

The 2025-26 California state budget appropriated $20 million one-time Proposition 98 funding for flexible Emergency Financial Assistance Grants, available to CCC students who file a California Dream Act Application. Per analysis from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, the grants are designed to fill gaps in unmet financial need after a student’s available aid is applied, and the maximum award nearly doubles the maximum amount of a Cal Grant B Access Award. The budget additionally appropriated $15 million one-time Proposition 98 to expand the Dreamer Resource Liaison program, which supports undocumented and mixed-status family students at California’s community colleges with services such as financial aid navigation, legal aid referrals, career pathways, and direct emergency financial assistance for those who demonstrate need. Together, these one-time investments reflect California’s continued commitment to supporting historically underserved students in the face of federal rollbacks affecting immigrant and low-income communities.

Students may receive up to $1,400 per academic year through the new $20 million Emergency Financial Assistance Grant program. Because the program is newly enacted in the 2025-26 budget cycle, there is not yet aggregate data on the number of students served or average disbursement amounts. Direct emergency assistance from the Dreamer Resource Liaison funding is administered at the campus level, with award levels determined by individual community college districts based on demonstrated student need.

Emergency Financial Assistance Grants are intended to be flexible and cover a broad range of non-tuition expenses that arise unexpectedly during a student’s course of study, including housing, food, transportation, utilities, medical or mental health expenses, childcare, technology, and books. The state’s 2025 guidance to community college districts notes that the Emergency Financial Assistance Grants are designed to fill gaps in unmet financial need, including for students attending colleges that do not have residential housing options and where the full cost of attendance is substantially higher than what tuition-focused aid covers. For the Dreamer Resource Liaison-administered emergency funds, allowable uses similarly include rent, utilities, food, transportation, and other expenses that threaten enrollment, with additional flexibility for legal aid expenses tied to immigration matters that may affect a student’s ability to remain enrolled.

Because both the Emergency Financial Assistance Grant and the Dreamer Resource Liaison-administered funds are newly established or expanded in the 2025-26 budget cycle, application processes are determined locally by each community college district under guidance from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. For the Emergency Financial Assistance Grant, students must have a CADAA on file as the foundational eligibility step; campuses then typically use a short emergency aid application that asks students to identify the type of expense and amount needed. For Dreamer Resource Liaison-administered aid, the campus Liaison generally serves as the point of contact for students, helping connect them to the emergency funds alongside other supports (e.g., legal aid, financial aid navigation). The California community college system’s broader Toolkit for Emergency Assistance encourages campuses to streamline applications, minimize documentation requirements, and process disbursements quickly.

Community college districts that receive Emergency Financial Assistance Grant and Dreamer Resource Liaison funds are expected to report aggregate data to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, including the number of students served, total funds disbursed, and student outcomes. Detailed reporting templates are being developed in the first implementation cycle. Because these are one-time appropriations made in the 2025-26 budget, the Legislature and advocates—including the Campaign for College Opportunity and the California Undocumented Higher Education Coalition (CUHEC)—have signaled that program outcome data will be a critical input for any future, sustained investment.