Approximately 75,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year, according to new research released this week by the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and the Migration Policy Institute.
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"The educational persistence of undocumented students, despite structural barriers, underscores their resilience," the report states, while warning that these students now face "an increasingly uncertain future" amid Trump administration immigration enforcement efforts.
The research found that undocumented high school students are concentrated in just four states. Texas leads with 12,000 graduates annually, followed by California with 11,000, Florida with 8,000, and New York with 4,000. These four states account for approximately 42% of all undocumented high school graduates nationwide.
Latino students comprise 78% of undocumented high school graduates, totaling about 58,000 students. Asian and Pacific Islander students account for 7,000 graduates, Black students 6,000, and white students 4,000. The top countries of origin are Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, which together represent nearly 60% of undocumented graduates.
The report highlights significant challenges facing these students, particularly threats to state tuition equity policies that allow undocumented graduates to access higher education at in-state tuition rates. Between 2001 and January 2025, 25 states and the District of Columbia enacted such policies.
However, Florida rescinded its tuition equity policy in early 2025, and the federal government has successfully challenged similar policies in Texas and Oklahoma. Legal battles continue in Kentucky, Minnesota, Illinois, California, and Virginia. Currently, 22 states and D.C. maintain tuition equity policies.
