responses

Hello Class ,

Cheers to the final week wow what a week it has been a wonderful semester. 

One known barrier within higher education is the cost, I mean it is expensive and is one of the main reason people chose not to attend because of cost. What is a way education can at least be lowered to feel as if they can offer the world something more? For many college-bound students, a key obstacle to postsecondary education is cost. For undocumented students such as Apodaca, the cost barrier is further exacerbated by their undocumented status. Students with undocumented status not only are required to pay nonresident tuition at state supported colleges in most states but are typically ineligible for state financial aid while further ineligible for federal financial aid (Diaz-Strong, Gomez, Luna-Duarte, & Meiners, 2011).2 With tuition costs approaching or exceeding nonresident public school rates, private higher education institutions have not offered solutions for undocumented students. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a few undocumented students have found scholarships at private institutions.

College education among undocumented immigrants has not been the norm until now. Among noncitizen Mexican adults in the United States between 18 and 44 years of age, who are mostly undocumented, about 5% have earned a college degree. Among noncitizen Mexican adults between 18 and 24 years of age, only 7% are enrolled in college (Kaushal, 2008). A 2002 Urban Institute study estimated that more than 1.3 million undocumented students are enrolled in K–12 education in the United States. Of these 1.3 million students, an estimated 80,000 turn 18 each year, of whom about 15,000 do not earn their high school diplomas. Of the estimated 65,000 undocumented students graduating from high school yearly, only 13,000 enroll in college (Protopsaltis, 2005).

At the national level, the most widely discussed legislation, the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, has spent more than a decade in some form of legislative action or inaction in the U.S. Congress without being passed into law. Various iterations of the federal DREAM Act have included provisions that would legalize undocumented young people. In late 2010, the DREAM Act failed to overcome a Senate filibuster after being passed by the House of Representatives (Herszenhorn, 2010). However, the DREAM Act does not address lowering the cost of higher education for undocumented students directly. If passed, the DREAM Act may help existing undocumented students regularize their immigration status and under that status qualify for state tuition benefits and aid. Any undocumented immigrant who does not qualify for a regularization of status under a legislated DREAM Act would still experience the cost barrier.

A promising alternative to lowering the cost barrier to higher education for undocumented students is action by boards of trustees at public universities. This article has presented the MSU Denver case as one example of a university-led initiative. To be sure, the university-level option and the MSU Denver policy are not without limitations. First, the institutional tuition rate at MSU Denver was not the same low rate as the in-state rate, although it was substantially lower than the out-of-state rate. What are we really doing by increasing tuition it creates a greater pressure on the student to succeed? They will acquire so much student debt and the likely odds of getting a job to be able to pay for that straight out of college is very slim to none. I really feel we should look into how we can save students from all backgrounds from the cost of higher education to make it affordable for everyone, with an equal opportunity of education. My reason is why or how can we be proactive with changing the perception on education. Some people cant afford college but want to further their education the cost may be high and others become discouraged on the cost alone. The tutition can increase and this means they may fall deeper into debt , which can discourage someone trying to budget or keep up with cost I struggle with that but I understand I cant make it without education. If I do not further my education I would not be able to make a living for my family but i think about those who need more help than I do whether they may not qualify for aid or student loans they will be forced to pay out of pocket. Higher education needs to become affordable for all in the US and everywhere to eliminate this issue nationwide. 

hangasamy, A., & Horan, D. (2016). Lowering the Cost Barrier to Higher Education for Undocumented Students: A Promising University-Level Intervention. Journal of Latinos and Education, 15(2), 113–120.