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AB-556 • 2026

Public postsecondary education: waiver of campus-based fees: veterans.

Public postsecondary education: waiver of campus-based fees: veterans.

Children Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Patterson
Last action
Official status
Assembly - Died - Appropriations
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text does not specify an effective date, only that the bill passed the Legislature.

Waiving Campus Fees for Veterans and Medal of Honor Families

This law stops public colleges in California from charging mandatory campus-based fees to veterans, their children with service-connected disabilities or who were killed in service, and families of Medal of Honor recipients.

What This Bill Does

  • Prohibits campuses from charging mandatory campus-based fees to students already eligible for tuition waivers under the Donahoe Higher Education Act.
  • Applies these fee waivers to children of veterans with service-connected disabilities or those killed in service, as well as Medal of Honor recipients and their young adult children.
  • May create state-mandated local programs if it adds new duties to community college districts.
  • Allows the University of California Regents to decide by resolution whether this rule applies to UC campuses.
  • Provides for state reimbursement of costs only if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill creates mandated expenses.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Children of veterans with service-connected disabilities or those killed in service.
  • Undergraduate students who received the Medal of Honor.
  • Undergraduate children under age 27 whose parents received the Medal of Honor.
  • Public colleges including University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges.

Terms To Know

Donahoe Higher Education Act
A law that already stops public campuses from charging mandatory systemwide tuition or fees to certain veterans and their families who apply for a waiver.
Campus-based fees
Mandatory charges set by individual college campuses, separate from systemwide tuition or state-wide fees.
Service-connected disability
An injury or illness that happened during military service and is linked to the veteran's time in the armed forces.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The University of California system only follows this rule if its Regents pass a resolution to make it apply.
  • Reimbursement for costs depends on whether the Commission on State Mandates decides the bill creates state-mandated expenses.

Bill History

  1. California Legislative Information

    Assembly - Died - Appropriations

Official Summary Text

Public postsecondary education: waiver of campus-based fees: veterans.