SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Santa Rosa Junior College has so many illegal immigrant students, it’s opening a special center to help them navigate higher education and find answers about their immigration status.

The new “Dream Center” opened Monday to provide “a safe, supportive, one-stop shop for undocumented students and potential students as they explore their educational future,” The Press Democrat reports.

“We’re kind of a triage center” where students can learn about President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival policy, funding options and enrollment policies, SRJC outreach specialist Rafael Vazquez told the news site.

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California exempted illegal immigrant students from paying out of state tuition to state community colleges and universities in 2002, but many illegal immigrants are unaware of their options for pursuing higher education, Vazquez said.

“Not until that nine-digit number was asked did they hit that roadblock,” he said of the required social security number for college admissions. “But now they can come to the Dream Center.”

The Dream Center, essentially a small office near the college’s admissions, will help the 900 illegal immigrant students currently at SRJC, as well as future prospects. School officials said immigrant students currently enrolled came from Mexico, Canada, China and Russia, according to The Press Democrat.

“Dream Center staff are here to create a welcoming experience while students navigate matters related to AB540 admissions, DACA, the California Dream Act, EOPS (Extended Opportunities Programs & Services), the BOG (Board of Governors) Fee Waiver, referrals to Assessment & Counseling, and the essentials of full matriculation at SRJC,” the SRJC site explains.

Students who meet certain criteria – attended and graduated from a California high school and secure other documentation – can also work with Dream Center staffers to secure “nonstate funded scholarships for public college and universities,” as well as “state-funded institutional grants and waivers,” according to the site.

The site also links illegal immigrant students to other organizations that cater to their needs, such as Educators for Fair Consideration, UndocuMedia.org and Unitedwedream.org.

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Ricardo Navarrette, SRJC’s vice president of student services, said the new Dream Center is a more public proclamation of the college’s long-standing aim to help illegal immigrants gain a college degree.

“Educating the dreamers – the folks who’ve been raised and educated as our neighbors, friends and families – has been going on for years,” he told the Press Democrat, “sometimes quietly, behind the scenes.”

SRJC President Frank Chong is a big supporter of the center. In fact, he told the news site he believes California’s future depends on such efforts.

“Even in disagreement of who should be American,” he said, “studies have shown that the future of California is dependent on the success largely of Latin Americans and immigrants in general.”

Last year, roughly 27,000 students attend SRJC, 54 percent of which were white, with Latinos as the second largest ethnic group at 31 percent, the Press Democrat reports.