For Immediate Release: April 16, 2018
Contact: Michael Earls at 202-494-8555 and [email protected]
TheDream.US Reacts to Arizona Ruling Barring In-State Tuition for DREAMers
Candy Marshall: “Arizona’s law is self-defeating – denying the State, its local businesses, and its communities of the talent and energy these young people bring to the State’s economic and social prosperity.”
Washington, DC – TheDream.US, the nation’s largest college access and success program for undocumented immigrant youth, issued the following statement reacting to the recent Arizona Supreme Court decision ruling that existing state law does not allow Arizona colleges and universities to provide in-state tuition rates to DREAMers.
The following is a statement from Candy Marshall, President of TheDream.US:
“The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision will make it more difficult for Arizona DREAMers to get a college education. Put simply, Arizona’s law is self-defeating – denying the State, its local businesses, and its communities of the talent and energy these young people bring to the State’s economic and social prosperity.
Because DREAMers were able to pay in-state tuition rates, TheDream.US has been able to fund scholarships for more than 150 DREAMers attending our Partner Colleges (Arizona State University, and Maricopa County Community College District’s Phoenix, Gateway, and South Mountain Community Colleges) in Arizona. We remain committed to our Arizona Scholars, applaud the efforts of the Arizona Board of Regents to support DREAMers, and look forward to working with our partners to try and keep our Scholarship dollars in Arizona. Nonetheless, this week’s ruling will mean that – going forward – fewer DREAMers will get a college education in Arizona.
Arizona and its communities benefit through policies that help all students, regardless of where they were born, access and graduate from institutions of higher learning. DREAMers have grown up in America and have the talents, skills, and energy needed to help move our country forward. It’s time for lawmakers in Arizona to invest in their state’s future by passing a law that provides affordable college access for DREAMers and it’s time for the U.S. Congress to move past their dysfunction and replace DREAMers’ uncertainty with permanent status.”
TheDream.US, which has provided more than 3,000 scholarships to students with DACA and TPS at more than 75 partner colleges in 15 states and Washington, DC, believes that all young people, regardless of where they were born, should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential, gain an education, and fully participate in the country that they call home. To date, the organization has committed more than $103 million in scholarship money for DREAMers.
In Arizona and across the country, TheDream.US Scholars have proven themselves motivated and successful. TheDream.US Scholars have thrived academically on their campuses, with National Scholars averaging a 3.2 GPA compared to the 3.15 average GPA students achieve at public and private colleges across the country. Additionally, TheDream.US Scholars have demonstrated amazing persistence, with 93% of Scholars returning to their schools after their first year, compared to the 72% average rate of return after first year for students at all U.S. colleges and universities.
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