Access
Financial Barriers For Undocumented Students
More and more in the news we are hearing about immigration reform, especially with the upcoming election. I immediately think about undocumented students and the current and past legislation that has been passed to help them.
The research point to the most stressful situation for an undocumented student is the financial access to a college education. The first DREAM Act was introduced in 2001 with hopes that it would solve this financial problem (Nguyen & Serna, 2014). The DREAM Act was supposed to allow legal status for students who graduated high school in the U.S., arrived to the states as minors and lived int he country for at least five years prior to the passing of the bill. There have been many versions of the bill since then, which has forced each state to come up with and pass their own versions.
In 2011 California enacted the California DREAM Act which allowed undocumented students access to private college scholarships for state schools (Nguyen & Serna, 2014). In 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which gives temporary reprieve, allowing undocumented students to enjoy certain benefits without the pathway to legal status. Although many undocumented student have been able to take advantage of these services, the struggle is still persistent as there is no reassurance of attaining legal status.
As discussed earlier, because of the failed federal attempts for a comprehensive immigration reform policy; individual states have had to take the matters into their own hands. This means that undocumented students have had to rely on piecemeal legislation in order to access higher education and in some states have had to face state-enacted barriers to college access (Nguyen & Serna, 2014). For example, some states have legislated barriers by disallowing undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition.
On the flip side, even with states that have offered the in-state tuition price for undocumented students, not very many students are taking advantage of it. This means that even with being charged the in-state tuition price, undocumented students still can not afford the sticker price tag of the college or university. And with out any federal financial aid available to them, it is unlikey that these cost barriers will diminish.
I have a soft spot for undocumented students as I worked with many of them at my old job at a community college in Southern California. I am proud that California has passed legislation for these students to receive some aid but this is not the case in all states. Until there is a federal comprehensive reform, the educational opportunities available to undocumented students will be largely dependent on the state they reside. This is something for me to think about as I move forward in my higher education career. I want to work in a state where there are only opportunities and access for my students and not these implicit, financial barriers mentioned earlier.
References
Nguyen, D., Serna, G. (2014). Access or barrier? Tuition and fee legislation for undocumented students across the states. The Clearing House. 87. 124–129.
