68121. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, no mandatory systemwide fees or tuition of any kind shall be required or collected by the Regents of the University of California or the Trustees of the California State University, from a student who is in an undergraduate program and who is the surviving dependent of any individual killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon building in Washington, DC, or the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in southwestern Pennsylvania, if the student meets the financial need requirements set forth in Section 69432.7 for the Cal Grant A Program and either of the following apply:
(1) The surviving dependent was a resident of California on September 11, 2001.
(2) The individual killed in the attacks was a resident of California on September 11, 2001.
(b) (1) The California Victim Compensation Board shall identify all persons who are eligible for tuition and fee waivers pursuant to this section or subdivision (j) of Section 76300. That board shall notify these persons or, in the case of minors, the parents or guardians of these persons, of their eligibility for tuition and fee waivers under these provisions. This notification shall be in writing, and shall be received by all of the appropriate persons no later than July 1, 2003.
(2) The Trustees of the California State University, the Regents of the University of California, and the governing board of each community college district in the state shall waive tuition and fees, as specified in this section and in subdivision (j) of Section 76300, for any person who can demonstrate eligibility. If requested by the California State University, the University of California, the college named in Section 92200, or a California Community College, the California Victim Compensation Board, on a case-by-case basis, shall confirm the eligibility of persons requesting the waiver of tuition and fees, as provided for in this section.
(c) A determination of whether a person is a resident of California on September 11, 2001, shall be based on the criteria set forth in this chapter for determining nonresident and resident tuition.
(d) (1) “Dependent,” for purposes of this section, is a person who, because of their relationship to an individual killed as a result of injuries sustained during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, qualifies for compensation under the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (Title IV (commencing with Section 401) of Public Law 107-42).
(2) A dependent who is the surviving spouse of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.
(3) A dependent who is the surviving child, natural or adopted, of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to the waivers under this section until that person obtains the age of 30 years.
(4) A dependent of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, who is determined to be eligible by the California Victim Compensation Board, is also entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 478, Sec. 18. (AB 1936) Effective January 1, 2023.)