On June 6, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it had declined to review the California Supreme Court's unanimous decision upholding the legality of AB 540, the California state law that allows certain nonresidents, including some undocumented students, who attend and graduate from a California high school to pay in-state tuition at the state's public colleges and universities. The California Supreme Court's decision is therefore final, and AB 540 remains operative law.

AB 540 (also known as Education Code Section 68130.5) was enacted by the Legislature in 2001. It applies to students who attend high school in California for at least three years and graduate. It has benefited U.S. citizens and undocumented students alike. In 2008-09, for example, approximately 70 percent of the 2,019 students who qualified under the law for tuition exemptions at UC were U.S. citizens or legal residents, and that percentage has exceeded 67 percent in every year since the program's introduction at UC in 2002-03.

The plaintiffs in Martinez v. Regents of the University of California in 2005 filed suit against California's public colleges and universities, including UC, the California State University and the California Community Colleges, claiming that AB 540 conflicts with federal immigration laws that prohibit states from granting certain post-secondary educational benefits to undocumented immigrants on the basis of residency without giving the same benefit to nonresident U.S. citizens. In November 2010, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected those claims. Plaintiffs then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking further review, which the University opposed and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately denied.

"We are very pleased with the conclusion of the litigation," said Charles Robinson, UC's general counsel and vice president for legal affairs. "We also are gratified that students who have attended and graduated from high school in California and who have achieved the academic accomplishments to qualify for UC will continue to have access to affordable higher education opportunities, irrespective of their immigration status."