College System Boosts Efforts for Undocumented Students

The University of California system is making a strong effort to assist the undocumented students who seek out an education at its campuses. In 2013, UC president Janet Napolitano allocated $5 million for undocumented students. UC Davis received $500,000 to create a center specifically for undocumented students on campus.

UC Davis’ AB450 and Undocumented Student Center started in October 2014 and just wrapped up its first academic year of existence. Andrea Gaytan, the center’s director, said that she has received enthusiastic support from the community.

“We’ve had such an outpouring of support from our campus and our community wanting to help that we’ve really been able to find common points of interest with other departments and entities,” Gaytan said. “I’m shocked at how generous people are and how interested they are in helping students.”

Students without documentation that would legally allow them to reside and work in the United States are a particularly vulnerable population on college and university campuses across the nation. There are an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 undocumented students in the US.

Their origins and even legal statuses are believed to be quite diverse, particularly after passage of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and laws passed in different states implementing versions of President Barack Obama’s proposed DREAM Act. Such legislation allows a narrow segment of the undocumented immigrant population to apply for a two-year work permit and a temporary reprieve from deportation. Eligible applicants must have arrived in the US before they were 16, the logic being that they were either brought to or arrived in the US as minors and may not have been aware of the legal implications of their status.

A recent study from the Institute for Immigration, Globalization, and Education at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies found that financial issues are the largest barriers to undocumented students attempting to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate. Of the 909 undocumented undergraduate students surveyed for the study, 61.3 percent came from households that earn less than $30,000 annually—more than annual out-of-state tuition and other related expenses for one year of state school.

Despite their lack of resources, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for federal financial aid, and some states require undocumented residents of the state to pay out-of-state tuition rates that might equal or surpass their family’s entire annual income.