Advocacy
State
Did you know that by a Supreme Court ruling, all children – no matter their legal status – have a right to a K-12 education?
Our communities have made investments in the lives of our immigrant youth, teachers have spent time nurturing and educating them and the youth have worked hard to obtain their high school diploma. Not allowing these students to pursuit their dream of a college degree is a colossal waste to our country.
Undocumented students live in all 50 states. Stay informed. Below are key facts about some of the states TheDream.US is in.
Arizona
Arizona is home to 70,800 eligible DACA Dreamers as of December 2020.
- In 2019, a Senate proposal to create a reduced tuition rate for Arizona high school graduates regardless of immigration status was approved in that chamber but failed in the House of Representatives. Later that year, the Arizona Board of Regents adopted a reduced tuition policy. Yet community college students who don’t have legal immigration status and are state residents still have to pay significantly higher rates for their education.
- Arizona is one of three states that prohibit in-state tuition rates for undocumented students, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
- Currently, around 2,000 undocumented students graduate every year from state high schools, with very limited access to affordable higher education options.
- In March 2021, The state Senate approved a measure that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition and receive financial aid from Arizona universities if voters approve the change. The proposal aims to repeal parts of a 2006 voter-approved law that bars some immigrants from accessing public benefits. Senate Concurrent Resolution 1044, sponsored by Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, repeals parts of the 2006 law known as Proposition 300, which prohibits Arizona residents without a lawful immigration status from accessing in-state tuition and financial aid, child care assistance, family literacy programs, and adult education classes. Boyer’s proposal would exempt postsecondary education from the definition of a state or local public benefit and makes all students who attend an Arizona high school for two years and who graduate eligible for in-state tuition.
Florida
Florida is home to 95,530 eligible DACA Dreamers as of December 2020.
- Since 2014, TheDream.US has proudly supported 1,150 scholarships to Florida Dreamers.
- TheDream.US graduates and other Florida Dreamers are putting their college degrees to work as nurses, teachers, computer scientists, research scientists, entrepreneurs, and Fortune 500 employees.
- The top three fields of study among Florida TheDream.US Scholars are health and medicine (30%), Science, Math, and Technology (27%), and Business (16%).
- Thanks to the in-state tuition waiver, the doors of opportunity have been opened for state residents to achieve their higher education and career goals and contribute to Florida’s vitality, competitiveness, and future.
Texas
Texas is home to 335,820 eligible DACA Dreamers as of December 2020.
- In July 2014, TheDream.US co-founder Amanda Bennett and Carlos Gutierrez wrote an op-ed in the Dallas Morning News.
- Texas was the first state to provide in-state tuition to undocumented students. Undocumented students in Texas who for the last two decades lived in the state for at least three years, pledged to apply for legal status in a timely manner, and graduated from a high school in the state have been eligible for in-state tuition.
- In Jan 2021, a bill proposed by two Republican state representatives, Jeff Cason and Bryan Slaton, calls for colleges to check a student’s residency status and then decide if the student qualifies for in-state tuition.
- If the bill were to become law, it would make tuition prices unaffordable for many students. Out-of-state tuition rates are typically three times higher than in-state rates, on average.
- The Center for Public Policy Priorities (CPPP) noted that in 2010, students enrolled under the Texas DREAM Act paid $32.7 million in total tuition and fees.
Georgia
Georgia is home to 60,380 eligible DACA Dreamers as of December 2020.
- GA State law currently bars many noncitizen residents like DACA recipients from qualifying for in-state college tuition, which tends to be much lower than what students arriving from outside Georgia pay.
- In October 2010, the GA Board of Regents adopted a policy that any person not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for admission to any University System of Georgia (USG) institution.
- In March 2021, the House Higher Education Committee passed a measure brought by Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, that would extend lower-cost tuition rates to thousands of so-called “Dreamers” in Georgia who are protected from deportation under the federal DACA program. Supporters say lowering tuition rates would bolster Georgia’s workforce with better-educated and higher-skilled workers in Georgia while giving longtime residents a reprieve as they navigate paths to citizenship.
Nevada
Nevada is home to 34,030 eligible DACA Dreamers as of December 2020.
- Nevada does not have statewide policies that expand access to in-state tuition to the state’s undocumented students.
- Nevada’s Board of Regents establishes the rules that govern how institutions may grant in-state residency and tuition. The Board of Regents allows institutions to grant eligible undocumented students, including DACA recipients, access to in-state tuition. As a result, certain Nevada public institutions, including the University of Nevada Las Vegas, have established policies that provide access to in-state tuition to the state’s undocumented students if they graduated from a Nevada high school and meet other requirements.
- The NV merit-based Millennium Scholarship is open to all Nevada students who earn a 3.25 GPA or better, the need-based Nevada Promise Scholarship that pays for community college or Nevada State College tuition requires students to fill out the FAFSA and seek out federal aid before the state funds kick in. That can be a daunting prospect for undocumented students who don’t have a Social Security number and also don’t want to reveal too much information to a federal government that also has the power to enforce immigration laws against them.
- Nevada’s Board of Regents allows undocumented students, including DACA recipients, to access some state financial aid. Eligibility requirements and procedures differ slightly based on the aid program.
Federal
Use your voice—Let your elected officials know you support tuition and aid equity for Dreamers!
You can find the contact information of your elected federal, state, and local representative using this website: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials