How to Apply - DREAM Application (Newly Admitted Undergraduates)

Completing the DREAM Application is the first step toward getting financial aid for college.

The California Dream Act of 2011 allows students who meet AB540 criteria to apply for and receive funds from certain state and institutional financial aid programs. Completing and submitting the DREAM Application is free and quick, and it gives you access to California State and CSULB financial aid programs. In addition, your DREAM Application is used by some scholarship providers to determine whether you qualify for their awards.

The DREAM Application becomes available every October 1 and the deadline to apply is the following March 2.

If you missed the DREAM Application Deadline, you will not be eligible for any CA State or CSULB Grants for the academic year. You may wish to still complete the DREAM Application, as some scholarships, including the DREAM.US scholarship, require you to complete the DREAM application to be considered.

In order to be eligible for funding through the DREAM Application, you must meet the AB540 criteria

Your eligibility for AB540 status must be confirmed by CSULB Admissions before we can determine your eligibility for financial aid through the DREAM Act. Be sure that you submit your AB540 Affidavit (California Non-Resident Tuition Exemption Request Form) with Admissions/Enrollment Services as soon as possible. Monitor your email for any follow up requests for documents needed to confirm your status.

Males between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with Selective Service.

For more information on DREAM eligibility, visit the California Student Aid Commission’s DREAM Website.

The DREAM Application asks for important personal identification information as well as financial information. You may be asked to provide identification and financial information for your parents as well.

You should have the following information and documents with you as you fill out your Dream Application:

  • Your Social Security Number (if you have one)
  • Your Driver’s License number (if you have one)
  • Your parent’s Social Security Numbers (if they have one) – if parent information is required on the application.
  • Federal Tax information or tax returns – including IRS W-2 information for you (and your spouse if married), and for your parents if parent information is required on the application.
  • Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income, and veterans non-education benefits for you and for your parents if parent information is required on the application.
  • Information on cash, savings, and checking account balances; investments – including real estate (not including the home in which you live); and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if parent information is required on the application.

Be sure to use the exact name and date of birth on the DREAM Application that you use on your application for admission.

All applicants for financial aid are considered either “independent” or “dependent.” Dependent students are required to include information about their parents on the application. By answering a few questions, you can get a good idea of which category you fit into. 

You are considered an Independent Student if any one of the following applies to you:

  • You are or will be 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year
  • You are married, or      
  • You have children or dependents for whom you provide at least 50% of the support for, or
  • You are a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, having served on active duty, or
  • You are a ward of the court or both of your parents are deceased.

If none of the conditions above apply to you, you are considered a Dependent Student for financial aid purposes and must supply information about your parents on your DREAM Application.

If you’re a dependent student, you’ll need to report parent information on your DREAM Application.

Below are some guidelines to help you with the information that will be needed:

  • If your legal parents (your biological and/or adoptive parents, or parents as determined by the state—e.g., a parent listed on your birth certificate) are married to each other, answer the question about both of them, regardless of whether your parents are of the same or opposite sex.
  • If your legal parents are not married to each other and live together, answer the questions about both of them, regardless of whether your parents are of the same or opposite sex.
  • If your legal parent is widowed or was never married, answer the questions about that parent.
  • If your parents are divorced or separated and don’t live together, answer the questions about the parent with whom you lived more during the past 12 months.
  • If you lived the same amount of time with each divorced or separated parent, give answers about the parent who provided more financial support during the past 12 months or during the most recent 12 months that you actually received support from a parent.

Divorced or Separated Parents Who Live Together:

  • If your divorced parents live together, you’ll indicate their marital status as “Unmarried and both parents living together,” and you will answer questions about both of them on the DREAM Application.
  • If your separated parents live together, you’ll indicate their marital status as “Married or remarried” (not “Divorced or separated”), and you will answer questions about both of them on the DREAM Application.

What if I live with someone other than my parents?
It doesn’t matter if you don’t live with your parent or parents; if you are a Dependent Student, you still must report information about them. The following people are not your parents unless they have legally adopted you: grandparents, foster parents, legal guardians, older brothers or sisters, uncles or aunts, and widowed stepparents.

What kind of information must my parents provide for the DREAM Application?
For each parent, you’ll report similar information to that you report for yourself: basic information about your parent’s identity (e.g., name, Social Security number–if he or she has one, date of birth); living situation (e.g., marital status, state of residence, household size); and financial circumstances (e.g., tax information, certain assets, certain untaxed income).

After you have completed the DREAM Application, you (and your parent – if Dependent) will need to sign the application. 

Parent Signature:
If parent information was required, navigate to the link on the CA Dream Act website that says “Sign Student Application.”  Your parent must create a Parent PIN and answer the verification questions if they do not already have a CSAC Parent PIN. Your parent will be issued a 4-digit electronic PIN code to sign your application. Keep this code in a safe place, because your parent will need it to re-sign the California Dream Application each time you make a correction to your application or file a new one in a subsequent year.

If your parent does not receive a PIN, your parent must provide a signature page for every correction that is made.

Keep in mind every time a California Dream Application is submitted or correction is made, you must sign your application. For dependent students, parent and student signatures are required.

In situations such as the ones below, you may be able to submit your application without parent information despite being considered a dependent student:

  • Your parents are incarcerated.
  • You have left home due to an abusive family environment.
  • You do not know where your parents are and are unable to contact them (and you have not been adopted).
  • You are older than 21 but not yet 24, are unaccompanied, and are either homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless.

The online application will ask you whether you are able to provide information about your parents. If you are not, you will have the option to indicate that you have special circumstances that make you unable to get your parents’ information. The site then allows you to submit your application without entering data about your parents.

Once you’ve submitted your DREAM Application, you will need to reach out to our office to discuss your options – and whether or not a Dependency Override Appeal is an option. Be sure to gather as much information and supporting documentation about your situation as you can (legal documents; letters from a school counselor, a social worker, or clergy member; any other relevant information that helps document your special circumstance).

Completing the DREAM Application is not the last step; your application has to be processed, and then you get an Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which CSULB uses to figure out how much aid you can get.

  • After initial successful submission of your application, CSAC will send you an email with your nine-digit Dream I.D. number. If you do not receive an email from CSAC, be sure to check your spam/junk mail folders. Keep your Dream I.D. number in a safe place because you will use it to log back into the Dream Application, when you correct errors on the Dream Application, or when you talk to CSAC or your school. Be sure to review the Confirmation Page within your application to alert you to error codes that need correction.
  • Review your California Student Aid Report (CA-SAR). Your SAR will list the information that you provided on the California Dream Act Application, as well as an Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
  • Check your CA-SAR for accuracy. For corrections, return to the California Dream Act website and make the changes immediately. If no changes are needed, save the form for your records.

CSULB is one of only 33 participating institutions for TheDREAM.US scholarship. TheDREAM.US is a national scholarship fund that provides eligible, first-time college students with up to $25,000 in funding towards tuition, fees, books, supplies and transportation costs.

The scholarship is renewable for up to six years or until you have received the full $25,000 award. Students must be eligible for AB540 status and be DACA eligible in order to qualify for this scholarship. For more information and to apply, visit TheDREAM.US.

Eligibility for a Cal Grant is based on the information in your DREAM Application as well as your academic history. Cal Grants may be renewed for up to four years of full-time enrollment.

In order to be considered for a Cal Grant, you must have your GPA verified by the appropriate college or high school office. The following table shows which school should complete your GPA verification based on your current status. After reading these instructions, please contact our office if you have any questions.

Cal Grant GPA Verification
CSULB Current Student Status GPA Verified by:
Newly Admitted First-Time First-Year Student (Freshman) Your High School
Newly Admitted Transfer Student with no units earned at CSULB as of March 1 Your Former College

Be sure you contact the appropriate school to have your GPA Verification sent to CSAC by the March 2deadline. More information is available on the CSAC Cal Grant page.

Are you wondering if your Cal Grant GPA has been received by CSAC? After you have filed a FAFSA, you can go on-line and check the status of your Cal Grant application by logging on to WebGrants for Students and creating an account. This secure site provides you with resources, information and tools to assist you with the college financial aid process. It will also let you view the status of your Cal Grant or Chafee Grant application, update your address, submit corrections, view your payment history, update your college of attendance, or satisfy outstanding requirements.

DREAM Students who are pursuing an Undergraduate Degree are eligible for the following types of financial aid at CSULB:

  • California Middle Class Scholarship
  • Cal Grant (Fee Paying Award and/or Stipend)
  • DREAM Loan
  • CSULB State University Grant (SUG)

If you missed the Priority Filing Deadline (March 2), you will have missed the opportunity to be considered for the above types of aid. 

We do encourage you to still complete the DREAM Application, though, as The DREAM.US Scholarship requires completion of the DREAM Application to be considered for funding. You may also find other  scholarship programs or private loans that you qualify for – but which require submission of the DREAM Application in order to be considered. 

You will have the opportunity to be considered for CSULB and California State funding next year – when you complete the DREAM Application again (you must complete a new application for each academic year). The DREAM Application becomes available every October 1.

Be sure to complete the DREAM Application prior to the Priority Filing Deadline, so that you can be considered for the full scope of funding available.