Struggling with status of undocumented students
By CARISA CHAPPELL, Published September 24, 2009

States aren’t sure what to do about the issue of undocumented immigrants.  It’s become especially controversial in places like North Carolina, where during the last eight years, the state community college system has changed its mind four times regarding whether to allow undocumented students to enroll at its institutions.

In 2001, the system prohibited undocumented immigrants from enrolling. In 2004, it allowed each college to decide. In 2007, all community colleges were mandated to admit undocumented students. But that was reversed last year when the system prohibited its member colleges from enrolling undocumented students into degree-granting programs.

Last week, system officials changed their minds again, allowing undocumented immigrants to enroll in classes, as long as they have graduated from a U.S. high school. (See story, N.C. system changes policy on immigrants)

North Carolina is not alone in the quandary about how to handle the dilemma, and states vary in their approaches, said Teresita Wisell, director of the Community College Consortium for Immigrant Education (CCCIE). 

“Up until now, this issue has been  left to the states and to the community college systems to interpret and administer as they deem appropriate,” she said.

Currently, 10 states—including states with large immigrant populations, such as California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas— allow undocumented immigrants to attend college at in-state tuition levels if they meet certain conditions, Wisell noted Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Virginia charge undocumented immigrants out-of-state tuition.

“The other extreme is those states that do not allow undocumented student to enroll in community colleges at all,” Wisell said.

About two years ago, Arizona passed a law denying in-state college tuition and other state funded benefits to illegal immigrants. Proposition 300 requires state agencies to check the immigration status of applicants for state-funded services in Arizona, including child care and adult education as well as in-state tuition and financial aid for college students, said Steven Fountaine of Stone Mountain Community College.

As a result more than 3,400 community college students and close to 300 university students paid the higher non-resident tuition rate because they couldn’t prove their legal status. Proponents of the law argue that the extra tuition money is helping colleges to offer more programs and services, while opponents contend that the higher tuition cost is preventing thousands of potentially undocumented immigrants from enrolling. Opponents add that the law is also hurting the state economically, as many industries are scrambling to find skilled workers to replace retiring baby boomers. Many of these jobs could be filled if undocumented immigrants could afford the required training at community colleges.

Congress has also struggled to address the undocumented immigrant issue. Lawmakers have proposed legislation—the Dream Act—which would allow undocumented young people to be eligible for a conditional path to citizenship, in part in exchange for a mandatory two years in higher education or military service.

“Should the Dream Act pass, then enrollment in college becomes a clear avenue to conditional residency and subsequently citizenship,” said Wisell, adding it might provide for a more consistent policy across states.

However, proponents of the bill haven’t been able to muster the votes in Congress needed to pass it. 

Several organizations, such as CCCIE, are working to educate the public on the legislation. Wisell said that the consortium, which was founded last year, will focus on raising awareness about immigrants at community colleges and the challenges they face, creating a vehicle for promising practices to be shared and partnering with other organizations to create an understanding of the issues around credentialing and licensing for skilled immigrants who’ve been educated or trained outside of the U.S.

Wisell noted that one of the top issues being discussed when it comes to immigrant education includes “how to offer academic programs that best meet the needs of the immigrant student, both for meaningful employment and advancement in the workplace, and as a gateway to associate degrees and onto bachelor degrees.”

Last year, Westchester Community College (New York) received seed money from the JM Kaplan Fund to create the CCCIE. During the first year, the consortium has formed a panel of community college administrators who oversee programs and services for this population and experts in immigrant education issues and English language acquisition.

The Gateway Center, a 70,000-squar- foot building on campus, is due to open in May and will house many of the credit and noncredit programs at the college.

“It will focus on meeting the educational needs of the immigrant community and fostering an understanding of the value of global education among all of our students,” Wisell said.