As we wait for the DREAM Act - many DREAMers are still struggling to pay their college tuition:
Longtime Residents Not Allowed In-State Tuition
By ARIANA GREEN
New York Times
Published: March 8, 2009
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Some high school teachers worry about grooming students for admission to elite universities. Judah Lakin worries about getting his students’ immigration papers so that they can afford college.
Illegal immigrants do not qualify for federal financial aid, and those living in Rhode Island, as in 39 other states, do not qualify for in-state tuition at public universities. Since out-of-state tuition is about three times as high as in-state, many young immigrants forgo higher education.
Mr. Lakin, a 26-year-old history teacher at Hope High School here, is out to change that.
“One of my students has been here since she was 1 year old, but she can’t afford to pay the out-of-state rate to a university in a place she’s grown up in,” Mr. Lakin said. “Her mother has a work permit and pays taxes here, yet her daughter is essentially denied access to higher education.”
The difference in the cost of tuition is considerable. At the University of Rhode Island, out-of-state students pay $24,776 a year, compared with $8,678 for in-state students. In the last few years, Mr. Lakin has become the go-to person for immigrants at Hope High School. Ever since he helped one student navigate the bureaucracy to gain citizenship and raised money on her behalf, he has had students, parents, teachers and even other schools asking him for assistance...more
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