Despite strong academic achievement and ambition, many undocumented college undergraduates continue to grapple with unique educational and financial challenges and high stress levels, according to a new University of California, Los Angeles report.
Ironically, some of the most stressed-out students are beneficiaries of the U.S. government’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, according to the UCLA report. DACA grants temporary relief from deportation and gives work permits to qualifying residents who were brought to this country as children.
About two-thirds of undocumented undergraduates in the UCLA survey applied for and received DACA protection. Most of them say it has boosted their studies by letting them subsequently obtain scholarships and paid internships.
However, the provisional nature of DACA causes students to wonder—and worry—about what will happen to them when the program expires. DACA currently covers participants for only three years.
Moreover, 90 percent of undergraduates who are DACA beneficiaries say they still worry about the detention of family and friends, a sentiment expressed by only 71 percent of non-DACA students. Consequently, higher levels of stress exist among DACA participants than among nonparticipants, according to the UCLA report.
Researchers also found that undocumented, male undergraduates experience seven times the level of anxiety than do their counterparts who are U.S. citizens or lawful residents. For undocumented, female undergraduates, it is four times that of their counterparts.
“Even with programs like DACA, these students feel challenged,” says Dr. Robert Teranishi, a UCLA professor of education who’s a co-author of the report. “You would anticipate that student anxiety would decrease, but it has not. DACA has led more undocumented students to come out of the shadows, but (college) faculty and practitioners need to be aware of these students’ life circumstances and (become) more knowledgeable about campus resources that respond to their needs.”
