Keep in mind that the State of CA is huge: 38 million people. That is more than the population of the entire country of Canada. So there are lots of in-state low-income students from a pure numbers standpoint. Tuition at CA state U’s is free for families making less than $80,000, and as ucb pointed out, the admissions requirements are much less onerous than those for private colleges: no recommendations, no transcripts, no interviews, little in the way of ECs is required. AP courses are given full credit at all state Us (to my knowledge), so first-year students can enter with an entire year of credit from high school courses. And admissions preference is given to low-income applicants.