For Immediate Release: January 5, 2022
Contact: Michael Earls at [email protected]
ICYMI: Washington Post Editorial Highlights Benefits of Expanding Higher Education Opportunities for DREAMers
TheDream.US proud to help fill the void of federal inaction, offering scholarships to immigrant youth with and without DACA
Washington, DC – An editorial by the Washington Post makes the case for why expansion of higher education opportunities for DREAMers is not only good for these students, but also for our nation’s economy. As the editorial points out, progress to provide DREAMers with more opportunities in states should be matched by Congress finally delivering overdue and popular reforms to create a pathway to citizenship and to expand eligibility for federal financial aid to immigrant students. In the interim, organizations like TheDream.US are proud to help fill the void, offering scholarships to immigrant youth with and without DACA to attend more than 70 partner colleges in 19 states. (see a list of Partner Colleges by state HERE)
Applications for TheDream.US 2022-2023 scholarship round are now open to immigrant youth with or without DACA or TPS who came to the U.S. before the age of 16 and before Nov. 1, 2016. We have a goal to enroll 1,500 new National Scholars – a 50 percent increase in scholarships awarded compared to past Scholarship rounds. Learn more about how to apply at https://thedream.us/scholarships/
Below, find excerpts of the piece “Opening the door of opportunity for ‘dreamers’”, which can be found online at the Washington Post here.
“… In at least 20 states, lawmakers or other officials have granted in-state tuition at public colleges and universities to high school graduates in the state, regardless of their immigration status. That shift, which began 20 years ago and has accelerated over the past decade, has made an enormous difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people raised in this country and American in every sense but the legal one.
… The states’ expansion of tuition equity for undocumented immigrants is a somewhat overlooked good news story, and a hopeful counterpoint to the policy dysfunction that has been Washington’s default for years. According to recent estimates based on the 2019 American Community Survey, roughly 2 percent of all students in institutions of higher education, or more than 427,000 of those enrolled, are undocumented immigrants. Many of them are beneficiaries of in-state tuition, and some would never have graduated from high school if not for the incentive of relatively more affordable higher education.
… Granted, most Republican-dominated states — Texas being an important exception — have not given undocumented migrants a break on tuition, meaning they have essentially barred the door. Those states remain in the majority nationally. However, more than 80 percent of such students live in and attend high school in states that have shifted to tuition equity. Perhaps it’s easier to foreclose opportunities to people one is unlikely ever to have encountered face to face.
Americans of all political stripes, including a majority of Republicans, favor extending those opportunities to dreamers, understanding that it is self-defeating to deny them the chance of a better life. In a 2020 Pew Research Center poll, three-quarters of American adults said they support granting legal status to dreamers, a move that would render moot any lingering debate over tuition equity. The country has moved, state by state, in the direction of opening the doors to a better future for young undocumented migrants. It still has a way to go.”
About TheDream.US
TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college and career success program for immigrant youth, having provided more than 7,500 college scholarships to DREAMers attending 70+ partner colleges in 19 states and Washington, DC. We believe that all young Americans, regardless of where they were born, should have the opportunity to get a college education and pursue a meaningful career that contributes to our country’s future.
Meet TheDream.US Graduates
TheDream.US has over 2,100 graduates who are driven, resilient, and helping move our shared country forward. They are nurses, teachers, authors, computer scientists, research scientists, business entrepreneurs, nurses, policy analysts, social justice workers – all contributing to the social and economic prosperity of this country. Their stories are ones of resilience and determination. Meet some of TheDream.US graduates and read their stories here
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