Immigrant decision coming
Community colleges likely to rule today
0 comments
September 18, 2009
Estes Gould
Staff Writer

After more than a year of delays, community college leaders are expected to decide today whether to allow undocumented immigrants to enroll in the system.

A committee on the N.C. Community Colleges unanimously recommended Â*to allow it Thursday.

The decision, which many predict will mimic the committee’s, would be a relief for pro-immigration activists who have been trying to overturn a ban on undocumented immigrants’ enrollment that is more than a year old.

The policy pending approval requires that undocumented immigrants be U.S. high school graduates and pay out-of-state tuition.

The debate on the issue has often focused on whether the costs of allowing them into the system outweigh the benefits.

Those who support allowing undocumented immigrants to enroll say that the out-of-state tuition is unfair — but it negates the belief that they are a financial burden on taxpayers.

A North Carolina study based on tuition rates from 2006-07 found that the average in-state community college student costs the public $5,344 to put through school, said Ron Bilbao, founder of UNC’s Coalition for College Access.

Average out-of-state tuition in 2006-07 was about $7,000 — reflecting about $1,500 in profit, Bilbao said.

But opponents of the plan say other costs are a burden.

N.C. Listen Director Ron Woodard said that schools would lose money because more land and construction would be required.

There are economic costs down the line as well, Woodard said.

“Most people go to community college to find a job or a better job,â€