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IMMIGRANT ACCESS TO COLLEGE
Many children are brought to the U.S.at a young age by their parents in hopes of escaping poverty and persecution, achieving big dreams, and reuniting with families. Many of these children attend U.S. public schools and work very hard to achieve high grades. Although these children assimilate into American society, and are raised to believe that they are Americans, they eventually learn that they are not who they thought they were. Upon high school graduation, they discover that they lack legal documentation. This prohibits them from accessing higher education, thereby inhibiting them from achieving their lifelong goals.
Across the country, an estimated 65,000 high school seniors graduate each year with this dilemma. Of those, some 4,000 are from Florida. These students are routinely denied the opportunity to attend college because they are ineligible for government-back loans and grants. They are therefore forced to neglect their higher education and career ambitions.
Because of their undocumented status, these thousands of bright and hard working immigrant students who attended high schools in Florida cannot obtain formal employment. In turn, they cannot afford to attend college in Florida because they are asked to pay out-of-state tuition. This means the difference between paying $3,000 per year compared to $14,000 per year in tuition. Under the current shortsighted policies, some of our best achievers, who have had to overcome tremendous odds, are forced to let go of their dreams and go into low-income work. These children have lived in our communities for many years and consider themselves Floridians, but due to circumstances beyond their control, have been unable to become permanent residents.
To ensure students in this situation are able to attend college, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas, New York, California, Illinois, Washington, New Jersey, Kansas and Nebraska have all recently passed laws to allow these students to pay the same in-state tuition rate as other state high school graduates. Florida should do the same to ensure that our youth are able to reach their highest potential, and contribute to the economy as professionals and high-wage earners.
This is not a partisan issue; it is an educational concern. House Bill 119 has been introduced four years in a row in the Florida legislature, with successful passage twice in the House and twice in the Senate, but never concurrently. Close to 50 organizations statewide have weighed in but a broader and geographically diverse base of support is needed.
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