College Board, which is an organization founded in 1900 to help students make the transition from high school to college, has weighed in on of the most important, if not controversial topics of our day: higher education for children of illegal aliens. As the developer of important college entrance exams such as the SAT, the College Board has an influential position in this debate, one that they are now championing on the behalf of affected high school students.
Tens of Thousands of Undocumented Students Poised to Graduate
According to the College Board, more than 65,000 undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least the past five years will be graduating from high school this Spring. Most of these students who wish to go onto college will find these doors shut thanks to current rules regarding undocumented students.
Roberto G. Gonzales, an assistant professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle, is leading the charge on behalf of the College Board, saying that the denying students access to college is a humanitarian and civil rights issue in addition to being an economic one. Gonzales takes to task the argument that opening up opportunities for undocumented students will limit opportunities for citizens.
Federal law doesn’t disallow children of illegal aliens to attend college. However, the current status for undocumented college students is often unclear with hurdles being set up which makes it more difficult, if not impossible for students to be admitted. In addition, most states refuse to grant in-state tuition rates for these students citing their illegal entrance into the country as reason to withhold subsidized financing as well as financial aid.
College Board President Gaston Caperton said, “The College Board is working to remove the barriers to a college education for all students. Undocumented students deserve the same chance to go to college and fully participate in our society as other students. The DREAM Act would provide a way for them to fulfill their dreams and legally contribute to U.S. society. We must not turn our backs on these deserving young people.”
Not Everyone Supports the DREAM Act
While the DREAM Act has been introduced and rejected several times, opposition to granting special rights to children of illegal aliens comes from a number of different quarters of society including from a public policy organization called NumbersUSA. That nonpartisan organization is behind an effort to maintain an environmentally sustainable as well as economically just America.
NumbersUSA opposed the first introduction of the DREAM Act in 2007 and has taken note of the current push to see that legislation is passed by Congress and signed by President Obama to open up the educational opportunities for undocumented students.
Chain Migration and the Competition For Jobs
According to Roy Beck, author, lecturer and executive director of NumbersUSA, opening up the door to these students would work against people born in the United States as well as against naturalized citizens. New grads would compete for already scarce jobs while opening the door for relatives of these students to also pursue educational and job opportunities in the US (chain migration).
With DREAM amnesty, as many a half-million students would gain entrance to college with perhaps three to six times that number of their relatives allowed entrance into the country. According to Beck, those people would compete with Americans struggling to find work, further exacerbating problems for citizens who are attempting to find work.
DREAM Act proponents believe that an educated undocumented student workforce would benefit the economy, while barriers to education would have an adverse impact on society in the form of lower wage earners and people working below their capabilities.
Sources:
Gonzales, Robert G. “Undocumented Students and the DREAM Act.” College Board 2009 Web.22 Apr 2009. <http://professionals.collegeboard.com/policy-advocacy/diversity/undocumented>.
Beck, Roy. “A Test To Determine If DREAM Amnesty Sponsors Are Serious About Helping Illegal Teens, Or Do They Just Want To Hurt Americans?.” NumbersUSA March 31, 2009 Web.22 Apr 2009. <http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/march-30-2009/a-test-to-determine-if-dream-amnesty-sponsors-are-serious-about-helping>.
Adv. — If you have already found the college you want to attend, get prepared to apply to that school in November. Otherwise do an online college search to find the schools of interest to you and print out a Summary Aid Map to help you plan your financial aid strategy.
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