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Colleges push tuition aid for illegal immigrants

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
(Updated 2:02 pm)
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wading into the politically charged immigration debate, a group of colleges and universities is urging Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship in light of efforts in several states to block them.

The College Board, made up of 5,000 schools and best known for its SAT college admission tests, released a report Tuesday that cites a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, the board is making its push after states in recent years have moved to bar illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition and, in some cases, enrolling in their public colleges. Public colleges typically charge students from other states much higher tuition rates than in-state residents.

It also comes as opponents are warning that immigration reform now could reduce already-scarce jobs and college enrollment slots in the ailing economy.

"This is a new area for us, but it was an easy call," said Thomas W. Rudin, a senior vice president for the College Board.

He noted the contradiction in which illegal immigrants who are legally entitled to a public education from kindergarten to high school suddenly hit barriers when applying to college, even when many are "honor roll students, athletes, class presidents and valedictorians."

"We absolutely believe it's important for opening up economic opportunities," Rudin said.

Under House and Senate bills known as the Dream Act, illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as children — defined as age 15 and under — and have lived here for five years could apply to the Homeland Security Department for conditional legal status after graduating from high school.

Such legal status would make the immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition rates and some forms of federal financial aid. Then, if they attend college or participate in military service for at least two years, the immigrants would qualify for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship.

The legislation, which has been introduced in various forms since 2001, comes as President Barack Obama is preparing to address the contentious issue of immigration reform later this year. The Dream Act has previously passed the Senate but failed to become law as it was folded into proposals for more comprehensive immigration reform.

"The College Board is forgetting which side their bread is buttered: How can they purport to represent the interest of students while supporting legislation that promotes more competition from illegal aliens?" said Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to restrict immigration.

"It's a massive amnesty effort being laid for this fall," Dane said. "Since many of these illegal aliens and their families are overwhelmingly on the lower end of the economic scale, they're going to take the lion's share of need-based financial aid."

Among the College Board's findings:

  • About 360,000 illegal immigrants who have a high school degree could qualify for the tuition aid. Another 715,000 immigrants between the ages of 5 and 17 would also benefit if they are motivated to finish high school and pursue a college degree.
  • Roughly 10 states which offer tuition aid to illegal immigrants generally saw increased college revenue by enrolling these additional students, rather than financial burdens caused by an influx of immigrants paying cheaper tuition.
  • Only a fraction of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school each year go to college. Their ability to receive a higher education and move into better-paying jobs would help the U.S. economy in the form of increased tax revenue and consumer spending.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that illegal immigrants are entitled to a public education from kindergarten through high school, , but federal law is silent as to their college rights. As a result, states have been divided over providing benefits, and in many cases leave it up to individual colleges to decide.

South Carolina bans illegal immigrants from enrolling at any of its public colleges, and Alabama blocks them from its two-year colleges. Missouri and Virginia are also considering laws that deny enrollment.

At least four states — Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona — prohibit illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates.

The 10 states which offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington. New Jersey is now reviewing whether to offer in-state tuition, while California is considering whether to allow immigrants to compete for financial aid.

Accompanying Photos

File photo (News & Record)

Comments

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Headbega1863

April 21, 2009 - 10:22 am EDT

Just what we all need. To pay more money for people who are already costing us millions and millions of dollars. I bet we have a new tax proposed to raise money for this cause too.

bottechia

April 21, 2009 - 10:34 am EDT

These colleges are supported by tax dollars. I say if they want illegal immigrants so
bad then stop giving them the tax payers money.

gale_252002

April 21, 2009 - 10:36 am EDT

We shouldn't give any money for illegall immigrants to attend schooling etc. If they are illegall then they shouldn't be in the USA anyway. I oppsoe againist this decision. We americans have to pay taxes, etc while illegall immigrants get by with a lot since their not from here.

chilandrina

April 21, 2009 - 1:08 pm EDT

Dear gale_252002,

Did some illegal immigrant come along and take your seat in English class? Your lack of basic knowledge of English grammar is frightening. You need a refresher course on the difference between their, there and they're. And just a reminder... it's Americans.

Panacea

April 21, 2009 - 11:41 am EDT

We need to quit enabling illegal immigrant families. They move here because they know we will educate their kids for free. It needs to stop.

I see NO reason to give an illegal immigrant a tuition advantage over a student from Virginia who is a citizen or legal resident. It's outrageous.

chilandrina

April 21, 2009 - 12:49 pm EDT

I have known hundreds of people who were in this country illegally. Interestingly enough, not one single person mentioned our education system as a reason for why they were here.

mary1966

May 1, 2009 - 9:49 am EDT

Chilandria, Illegals do not pay taxes, they do not pay for health care, so how is it that they contribute to our economy or the bettering of it. Oh, and lest we forget, there are millions of legal residents in our country that need jobs. You want the country to provide college level education to ILLEGAL immigrants, and I stress ILLEGAL because this country is built on immigrants. Go the legal route or get out because we, taxpayers, are tired of footing the bill for illegals.
By the way, your distateful comment about "gale" above shows what kind of person you are. Stay on topic.

telemetryunit

April 21, 2009 - 12:08 pm EDT

Great. My hard earned tax dollars are going to go to ILLEGAL immigrants. I have absolutely no problem with immigration. As long as it's done legally. This country was founded on it. I have friends that worked hard, took the citizenship classes, and tests, and spent a lot of money on it. They are full US citizens now, have jobs, and a great people. And now we're just going to open our borders to whoever wants to come in and go to school? I'm sorry, but it was hard enough for me to put myself through school. I did it, with no help from scholarships, or grants, or federal aid. We've got to wise up. And we wonder why our school systems are running out of money, and in the world market place that our students are performing lower in testing. I'm just tired of this idea in the public consciousness that if someone is against illegal immigration they're against immigrants. Wise up people. If people are here illegally there's a reason for it. And it's not a good one. Enough is enough.

chilandrina

April 21, 2009 - 12:42 pm EDT

Could someone who has posted a comment here provide some legitimate data or researched facts regarding this issue?

JustMy2Cents

April 21, 2009 - 12:50 pm EDT

It's about time! We fuss and fuss about them dropping out of school and not performing well. Well .. . what incentive do they have when they know that they cannot go to college or have to pay exorbitant rates in their own backyard! And guess what? Most of their parents HAVE been paying taxes! So why shouldn't their children get the same benefit as every one else? And, you know what else? If they get an education, they can get better jobs which will allow them to pay EVEN MORE taxes . .. since that seems to be the main concern of most contributors to this blog.

All people deserve an education. They should have the right to live and work in the country where they want to live (we all should. .. . why should where we are born determine where we have the right to live---we didn't have any choice in that matter!) as long as we are willing to abide by the laws of that country. They should be provided the opportunities to work in the areas that interest them and not be limited by their lack of education.

chilandrina

April 21, 2009 - 1:48 pm EDT

Unfortunately not very many seem to be interested in looking at solutions that may possibly benefit all involved. It makes sense to open a path to citizenship, or at the least worker programs. There would be a greater documented tax base and all would be contributing their part to this country's well being.

However if something like that were to happen, the US would not be able to blame the illegal immigrants for drain of tax dollars, deficiencies in the social services systems and short falls in education. Wouldn't that be awful if we had to actually work at one of those low paying jobs with no benefits, instead of complaining that we can't get one because someone who is illegal stole it away from us. And shun the thought, but if they actually became legal we could not hide behind the "I don't like them because they are illegal, not because they are ______________(fill in the blank with whatever other ethnicity they happen to be).

Our hate,fear and ignorance becomes us all too well, unfortunately.

snowman

April 21, 2009 - 2:55 pm EDT

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. What part of this do you not understand. In your comment, as long as everyone abides by the countries laws. If you are consided ILLEGAL you are not abiding by the laws.

JustMy2Cents

April 24, 2009 - 11:08 am EDT

Most of them would be here legally of they could get the documentation they need. However, because of all the limitations and red tape, it is frequently not possible! Tis sad! Most of us had someone who immigrated here for a better life! Go figure! All most of them had to do was jump on a ship . ; no red-tape required! Where would you be living if that hadn't happened? And if your ancestors were "brought here unwillingly", I don't see you busting down the door to go back to whereever they brought them from! Maybe if it is so awful to have the "illegal" immigrants here, you should all go back to whereever your ancestors came from!

JustMy2Cents

April 24, 2009 - 11:08 am EDT

Well said!!!

snowman

April 21, 2009 - 2:48 pm EDT

The best solution that I can suggest is, put all illegal immigrants on a ship, bus, train or back in a container in which they got here in and send them back. I job is cutting pay, hours and everything else they can think of to cut cost and some of you (NOT ME) want to give them a free degree. I say HELL NO. I'm tried of paying out my butt in taxes and my family gets nothing, I could not even a break on my daughters college tuition. So I think everyone should lobby to stop this because this before it gets started. We Americans can not afford to send our kids to school, and then when they gets jobs, who are there bosses? These ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.
SEND THEM BACK, SEND THEM BACK, SEND THEM BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

whatnow

April 21, 2009 - 4:04 pm EDT

I am a widowed single mother with a full time job, never used any state or federal assistance, always paid my own way who can't get "any" financial aid to put my youngest through college. Why would I want to use my tax dollars to help an "illegal" alien go through college.

JustMy2Cents

April 24, 2009 - 11:25 am EDT

Guess what? They pay tax dollars, too!!!!

madisonman

April 21, 2009 - 8:19 pm EDT

This sickens me that our tax hard earned tax money is going to educate someone who is in our country illegally. I oppose K-12 and especially oppose helping illegals in higher education. What's the matter with our leadership? Why ever would you dream of rewarding someone who is breaking the law with this type of special assistance?

Now if this were truly a democratic society I think we would never see this discussed, but we would be helping our own citizens that are down and out due to the economy.

Shame - shame!

chilandrina

April 21, 2009 - 10:21 pm EDT

Wow, we sure are protective of the welfare state that we live in. Think about this people....Do you really think that the people who get any kind of assistance, educational included, really contributed to paying for the cost of it with their tax dollars. You all want to talk about your tax dollars going to pay for help for people who you have deemed do not deserve it because they are not legal citizens, but what about the people who don't contribute that get assistance that are legal citizens. Do they deserve to get my or anyone else's hard earned tax money just because they were born here? I certainly don't think so. I don't believe that it should be the tax payer's responsibility to pay for anything for anyone that cannot pay their own way, education included, regardless of their legal status.
Is there anyone here that is really ignorant enough to believe that getting rid of the illegal immigrants in this country is going to solve our problems?

whatnow

April 22, 2009 - 8:59 am EDT

No we are not ignorant. As you say, I don't like my tax dollars going to help anyone who milks the system either, it makes me sick. But with the prices of tuition rising and salaries not keeping up, some of us actually need financial aid for college. Mind you I only said college....I pay everything else. When it comes to tuition assistance, I don't "qualify". If I sat on my butt all day I would qualify. My expected financial contribution for college expenses is between $8,000 to $10,000 per year. After mortgage and everyday household expenses, I don't have that kind of money laying around.

chilandrina

April 22, 2009 - 12:56 pm EDT

My heart goes out to you - it really does. I can empathize with the struggle to make ends meet. I am a single mom, and so is my mother. My son is only ten years old and I am already planning and saving for his education. My mother has been working her rear end off for the last three years to put my youngest sister through college, as she does not qualify for any assistance She works full time as a teacher, tutors in the evenings and does side jobs grading standardized tests in the summers. Not once have I ever heard her complain. She knows it is her responsibilty to pay for my sister's education, not the taxpayers.

I don't really hear you complaining that you don't get any assistance. I hear you saying that you don't want tax payer money to go to people that are here illegally. That is perfectly legitimate in my opinion as well. I applaud you for all your hard work and think you should be proud of the fact that you don't get assistance from the government.

My problem with the situation is that the real problem has nothing to do with illegal immigration. The real problem I see is that too many people think that the government should pick up the tab, when they can't pay their own way. Why should I as a taxpayer have to pick up the bill for anybody but myself? The real problem here is that we live in a welfare state where certain people think they are entitled to get something for free just because they paid taxes or were born here. I don't care whether someone was born here or somewhere else, legal or illegal. I think everyone should have to work and pay their own way. This situation was not created by illegal immigration, nor will it be solved by their deportation. Illegal immigration has been drawn into the mix and is just another diversion to keep the American people from having to look at their own part of a much greater problem that has absolutely nothing to do with illegal immigration.

The problems that this country is going through were of our own doing and have existed much too long to blame on anyone but ourselves. American citizens drained and abused the system long before any illegal alien figured out how to do it. It is downright ridiculous, not to mention irresponsible and wrong, the scapegoating that is going on in this country right now. It is doing nothing but creating an atmosphere of fear and hate, and nothing is getting solved by placing the blame on illegal immigrants.

whatnow

April 23, 2009 - 11:45 am EDT

I'm afraid that boat's already sailed. We keep putting the same people in office that allow the non-contributing citizens and non-citizens to receive government aid. And unfortunately when you comment about it you are immediately deemed a racist. I personally don't care what color a person is or where they came from, if they can't or won't contribute their fair share, then they need to be cut off. I'm just venting as an extremely frustrated, working, tax paying citizen who obeys the law of the land and continually gets stepped on. I don't know how much longer the government thinks it can keep taking from middle America. We can't continue to provide sole support for all of these subsidized programs. If someone doesn't recognize that they are rapidly reducing their main support system to poverty, we are all lost. We will be so deep in a hole we will never get out.

wthigo

April 22, 2009 - 7:21 pm EDT

"Only a fraction of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school each year go to college. Their ability to receive a higher education and move into better-paying jobs would help the U.S. economy in the form of increased tax revenue and consumer spending."

O.K. I want to make sure I understand this properly. So it's alright for Mexicans to cross into America without obeying the law of the land by going through proper channels so that they may "do the jobs Americans won't do", but when they do, American taxpayers are obligated to foot-the-bill to educate them so that they can get a better paying job (perhaps the very same one that the American taxpayer had) so that they may help increase the tax revenue and consumer spending?

What this country, America, needs is an "ol fashion revolution", and the sooner the better. Both political parties are leading white Americans to their demise. Candidates from both parties pander to minorities with the goal of remaining in their comfortable, well-paying positions. White Americans built this country. No apologies.

JustMy2Cents

April 24, 2009 - 11:33 am EDT

Have you tried going through "the proper channels" to get this documentation? Many of them have tried or know someone who has and it is nearly impossible to get .. . so they go the route that they can . . .which is no easy task either. You think they would rather suffer through the things many of them go through. . . and would not rather just walk across and get the paper stamped! Let's be serious! And, once again. .. most of them have a tax id number and pay taxes!!!

And you are only concerned about the white Americans. . .. how racist are you? And by they way, white Americans built this country. . . with the black man's unpaid labor often times! You need a reality check!

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