Should Undocumented U.S. Residents be Eligible for In-State Tuition Rates?
In November 2006 the state of Arizona passed Proposition 300 that rendered “undocumented Arizona students ineligible for in-state tuition rates or state scholarships,” according to an article written by Elizabeth Redden titled “An In-State Tuition Debate,” that appeared in the Feb. 28, 2007 edition of Inside Higher Ed.
In her article, Redden follows a student named Ileana, a 17-year-old girl from Mexico City who came to the United States two years ago, who is quoted in the article as saying, “‘I did a lot of things because I wanted to get that scholarship,’ Ileana says.” Subsequently, due to Proposition 300, Ileana was not able to receive a scholarship.
Redden goes on to explain the logic behind Proposition 300 and other propositions like it, “for every student like Ileana, there’s another you can’t pinpoint, whose story you can’t tell, who is being asked to subsidize a seat he didn’t get because a student here illegally did, says Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform. ‘Even though you logically know that if somebody who is in Texas who is an illegal alien gets in, someone else doesn’t get in, you can’t identify that individual,’ says Mehlman. ‘You can’t put a human face on it, even though it’s an actual human being. Somewhere in the state of Texas, there’s another kid who’s paying the price.’”
Immigration Wars
The issue of extending in-state tuition to undocumented students is one that has been building momentum since 2001 when several states in the U.S. voted to extend these tuition cuts to illegal immigrants. Redden reports, “Since 2001, 10 states — some bright, bright blue (California, Illinois, New York and Washington), but mostly ones that are ruby red (Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah) — have approved legislation explicitly extending in-state tuition status to undocumented students. Aside from Arizona, Mississippi and Virginia have explicitly restricted access to the lower tuition rates, says Michael A. Olivas, a law professor at the University of Houston and director of the Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance.”
Federal Intervention?
Currently, children living in the United States illegally are allowed under the 1982 Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe decision to attend public schools from K-12, which further seems to confuse the issue of higher education and illegal immigrants’ access to it.
Although there is no further federal legislation on the matter of the children of illegal immigrants and college affordability at this time, Redden reported, “The federal Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act — which would certify the ability of states to offer in-state tuition to immigrants residing there illegally and provide a pathway for those who pursue two- or four-year degrees to obtain permanent residency — has stalled in Congress for several sessions now. It could affect an estimated 65,000 high school graduates per year, estimates the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization.” Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, recently was at Arizona State University’s campus advocating the DREAM Act.
It is important to keep up to date on the effects of the legislation and news on student loans and education. What goes on in government and in your state can have a great impact on your student loans and your college education.
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Be sure to tune in next Wednesday for my next blog on student loan legislation in the news.
Student Loan Girl