Undocumented students attend Univ. New Mexico with financial aid
Until last year, the end of high school meant the end of the educational line for undocumented students in Poudre School District in Colorado who lacked citizenship but excelled in classes.
Poudre High School counselor Isabel Thacker found a way around that, and this fall will be the second year that some of the high school’s undocumented students will participate in a program that allows them to attend college at the University of New Mexico – many without paying for tuition and books.
“A bill passed in New Mexico in 2005 prohibited the state from denying education benefits based in immigration status,” said Terry Babbitt, director of admissions for the University of New Mexico. “We have to offer state financial aid to any student, regardless of their immigration status,” he said. New Mexico’s state financial aid, however, is intended for residents. Despite the apparent obstacle, a loophole in UNM’s residency requirements was discovered that allows the undocumented students from Fort Collins, CO to receive in-state tuition in New Mexico as well as an institutional scholarship that covers completely the cost of their tuition.
“Students can enroll for up to six credit hours and get the in-state rate,” said Alex Gonzalez, associate director of the scholarship office at UNM. “They can then go across the street to Central New Mexico Community College and enroll for another six hours and continue to pay the UNM in-state tuition rate. They then are counted as full-time UNM students.”
A full year of tuition at UNM – at 12 credit hours per semester for in-state students – costs $4,570.80, Gonzalez said. Through an institutional scholarship made available to the undocumented students, $5,000 of their tuition and book expenses can be covered. This essentially leaves the undocumented students from PSD with only a fraction of their books and their total living expenses to cover out-of-pocket.
“To be able to have this program to help students achieve is pretty awesome,” Thacker said. “Because it is really easy for them to give up and drop out, they feel, ‘Why should I study when I have no where to go?’” Thacker developed the program last year after being approached by Miguel, an undocumented student.
“Miguel, being such a high achiever, especially in science and math, came to me, wanting to go to Colorado State University,” Thacker said. “The state of Colorado requires students to prove citizenship documentation. Miguel didn’t have that information. He doesn’t have legal status; he is here on his own. But Miguel wasn’t going to give up, and neither was I.”
To Thacker’s dismay, she found that options for her undocumented students in Colorado were limited at best. For one, they would have to pay out-of-state tuition at state schools. A Colorado bill passed during a special Legislative session last year prohibits the state from providing public benefits – including in-state tuition, which is subsidized by state taxpayers – to undocumented immigrants.
“They are allowed into the institution. But in essence, it essentially precludes them from attending college unless they have significant resources of their own,” said Sandy Calhoun, director of student financial services at CSU.
Thacker did her research and discovered New Mexico was one of the states without restrictions on undocumented students. About the same time, during one of Poudre’s college fairs, she met a representative from UNM and the program was born. Unlike Colorado’s post-secondary institutions, school districts like Poudre can’t withhold an education based on citizenship.
“When we see a student come in the door, we don’t see a student who is documented or undocumented,” said Manny Ortega, PSD’s executive director of secondary schools. “A child doesn’t pick who their parents are. We have a moral obligation to help anyone who is out there.”
