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| Photo Credit: Aaron Brown |
It’s that time of year
again for juniors to prepare their college applications. While many of their peers are anxiously
completing this harrowing process, many undocumented students may be unaware or
uncertain that they too are eligible to apply to most colleges and
universities. According to the College
Board, there are 65,000 undocumented students who
graduate from high school each year, but many of them don’t apply for higher
education for legal and financial reasons.
After all, since in many states they can’t apply for a driver’s license,
they may reason that they can’t apply to college either. What follows is a brief guide to navigating
some of the legal and financial barriers undocumented students face when
applying to college and to connect you and students with trusted resources.
As
an undocumented student, am I eligible to apply to college?
YES! There is
no federal or state law that prohibits the admission of undocumented immigrants
to college. You do not have to prove
citizenship in order to attend college according to federal and state law, but
some institutions may still ask. An
undocumented student may be treated as a foreign student, thereby making him or
her ineligible for financial aid, or in some rare cases, he or she may be
refused admission. It is important to
check at each institution first to see if they require legal residency or
citizenship. This map
compiled by the National Immigration Law Center details current state laws and policies on access to higher
education for undocumented students as of July 2014.
That’s great, but how am I going to pay for it?
This is perhaps the greatest obstacle for any student,
but especially challenging for undocumented students. Undocumented students are
not eligible for federal and state financial aid (including loans, grants, scholarships or work-study money) and
many private scholarships are only open to citizens or legal residents. However, increasingly more states
are providing in-state tuition rates for their undocumented students and there
are some private scholarships available.
The College Board’s Repository
of Resources for Undocumented Students, while not exhaustive,
outlines several state and private scholarships available. There is a likelihood that both these lists
will keep growing as more states are pushing immigration reforms.
How am I going to fill out an application form if I have to reveal my immigration status?
BestColleges.com, a resource for prospective
students, provides useful information on key application concerns for
undocumented students in their College
Guide for Undocumented Students. In addition to gathering all the usual
transcripts, recommendation letters, personal essays, etc, undocumented
students may have to account for changes in address, schools, and how long they
have lived in the US. Two areas of particular
concern in the application include are: the Social Security number and Country
of Citizenship. In these cases,
BestColleges.com recommends marking “No Selection” or skipping the
question. It is important not to lie on
the application and to remember that under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), federal
law prevents any educational institution including high schools and colleges
from releasing immigration status unless under court order. For
more information about what can be released about students, refer to the U.S. Department of Education website.
*As an educator or school official, keep
in mind that a student may not be forthcoming about their immigration status
for fear of deportation and that this is an understandably a sensitive
issue. In a brief chart titled Talking
to Students About Sensitive Subjects, Katharine Gin of
Educators 4 Fair Consideration (E4FC) highlights talking points to navigate the
higher education discussion with students.
It is important to keep a positive mindset when talking with students
noting that college for them is possible
and thousands of undocumented students have done it!
How will the recent Immigration
Accountability Executive Action affect undocumented students seeking to go to college?
Essentially, the most significant change for
undocumented students is the expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals or DACA program. “DACA is a
prosecutorial discretion program administered by United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS) that provides temporary relief from deportation
(deferred action) and work authorization to certain young people brought to the
United States as children—often called “DREAMers.” While DACA does not offer a pathway to legalization,
it has helped over half a million eligible young adults move into mainstream
life, thereby improving their social and economic well-being. On
November 20, 2014, the Administration modified the DACA program by
eliminating the age ceiling and making individuals who began residing here
before January 1, 2010 eligible. Previously, applicants needed to be under
the age of 31 on June 15, 2012, and to have resided here continuously since
June 15, 2007. Moreover, the Administration announced that DACA grants and
accompanying employment authorization will, as of November 24, 2014, last
three years instead of two. While USCIS will continue to take applications
and renewals under current eligibility criteria, those eligible under the new
criteria should be able to apply within 90 days of the announcement” (American
Immigration Council Immigration Accountability Executive Action Guide)
United We Dream
provides helpful resources for enrolling in the DACA program including an
online screening tool to determine eligibility.
Benefits of DACA include getting a social security number and getting a
job with benefits, so a student, among other advantages, can work as he or she
attends college to help defray costs!
The Administrative
Relief Resource Center also provides resources on administrative relief and
steps on how individuals can prepare for enrollment in both English and Spanish.
Resources Cited and Additional Guidance:
American Immigration Council
BestColleges.Com
College Board
Committee for Immigration Reform Implementation
(CIRI)
Educators 4 Fair Consideration (E4FC)
National
Immigration Law Center
United
We Dream
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