Enrollment of low-income, undocumented students declined by half at University of California and California State University campuses from 2016 through 2023, according to a new study by the University of California Civil Rights Project at UCLA and UC Davis School of Law.

The paper, “‘California Dreamin’: DACA’s Decline and Undocumented College Student Enrollment in the Golden State,” is believed to be the first to report on data collected during an era marked by increasing limitations on DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.

Further, researchers found for UC and CSU low-income undocumented students — new and continuing students — there was a 30% decline between the 2018 through 2019 academic year and 2022 through 2023 academic year. This reflects a delayed impact as earlier large cohorts took time to graduate.

The authors attribute the stark declines to the gradual constrictions on DACA since 2017, which worsened after a Texas federal district court’s national injunction in 2021 blocking the processing of new DACA applications.

Restrictions make it more difficult for Gen Z, undocumented college students to obtain legal employment and other benefits to make college more accessible and affordable, researchers said.

The study was authored by William C. Kidder, research associate at the UCLA Civil Rights Project, and Kevin R. Johnson, professor and former dean at UC Davis School of Law.

“As a researcher and as an administrator who has worked in both the UC and CSU, what surprised me was just how consistent the findings were across the two university systems,” Kidder said. “I believe that underscores how common it is for young Gen Z undocumented college students to struggle when DACA is beyond reach and when they are excluded from campus jobs and surrounding labor markets.”

The study compared low-income undocumented students with low- and lower-middle income students at UC and CSU with similar academic profiles.

The absence of declines among these control groups highlights the unique challenges faced by undocumented students today, the authors argued. It also supports the authors’ conclusion that the stifling of DACA plays a major role in explaining why undocumented college students are having such a difficult time pursuing the dream of a university education.

“The study serves as a reminder that action is needed to address the fading away of DACA, which benefited so many young noncitizens,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, Congress and the president in the future work to address the issues.”

The California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 2586, known as the Opportunity for All Act, which would prevent the UC, CSU and California Community Colleges from disqualifying students from applying for campus employment due to their failure to provide proof of federal work authorization.

The bill was sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month.

“California is as an upper-bound test case with the strongest, longest and arguably most robust set of state laws and university-level aid policies to support undocumented college students including in the realm of financial aid,” the authors wrote.

Even so, the data show those opportunities are declining, the authors said.