. >> reporter: kat lehmann is an engineering neighbor at uc davis.r families limited finances she has to leave and go to a community college. her father earned $140,000 last year, too much to qualify for need-based grants. but with two teenage brothers still heading to college, money is tight. >> my dad feels pressure just looking at the bill thinking how are we going to pay for this? >> reporter: poly-cy major is also feeling the pressure. >> it's extremely stressful. we were coming out after a recession and my mom hadn't been employed for one and a half years. >> reporter: annual tuition at berkeley is close to $14,000. added expenses bring the total up. a major financial strain. >> the law that governor brown will sign today are significant opportunities for middle class californians. >> reporter: it's the first financial aid grant in the country created for familiar list making up to $150,000 annually. the man behind the legislation is john perez. >> california like the rest of the country has had a real crisis of college affordability. >> report