Thread: VA: Colleges' admittance of illegals opposed

Colleges' admittance of illegals opposed
Bill would end practice at some Va. schools of allowing undocumented immigrants

Friday, Jan 18, 2008 - 12:09 AM
By OLYMPIA MEOLA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Four of Virginia's public universities permit undocumented immigrants to enroll, a practice that several state lawmakers want to abolish.

Virginia Tech, Radford University, Old Dominion University and George Mason University are the only schools among the state's 15 public four-year colleges and universities that do not check legal residence in the U.S. before allowing enrollment, according to an informal survey by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Each school sets its own policy on admitting undocumented immigrants, as do the state's 23 public community colleges, which are roughly split -- with 12 indicating they permit enrollment and 11 that prohibit enrollment.

State education officials stress that the schools' policies are nuanced and that multiple factors drive each school's stance, including its mission, geography and legal considerations.

The survey comes as lawmakers rush the Capitol with bills to crack down on undocumented immigrants, with limiting access to higher education high on the list.

"I think it's stunning," Del. Christopher K. Peace, R-Hanover, said of the information, compiled at his request, on schools that admit illegal immigrants.

"Why can't we [admit] someone who's legal from out-of-state?" instead of undocumented immigrants, Peace said. "[The schools are] not losing revenue but they're also not endorsing a practice that's in violation of our national interest."

Peace has proposed legislation to block undocumented immigrants from attending any state college or university. His intent, he said, is to reduce incentives for people to move to Virginia illegally.

Undocumented students pay out-of-state tuition, which can be double and nearly triple the cost of in-state tuition. Advocates say many such students feel restricted from applying to college for fear of being "outed" in the application process, or because out-of-state tuition rates are out of their reach.

Paying those high rates in part makes them a benefit to the universities, not a draw on resources, some college admissions officers said.

"They, in essence, are funding in-state students," said Andrew Flagel, dean of admissions at George Mason University, located in Northern Virginia, the center of the state's immigration debate at the local level.

"You're talking about students who have, in order to qualify for our competitive universities . . . done very well at our high schools -- very competitive high schools particularly in the Northern Virginia and Richmond areas," he said. "They're the kind of student we would like to have our in our university and would like to have working in our community."

At George Mason, proof of citizenship is not part of the enrollment process -- it's an optional field on the application, Flagel said. As with other state schools, students would have to supply documentation of legal residence to be considered for in-state tuition or any kind of state or federal aid.

Federal law in effect states that if a state gives in-state rates to residents who are not in the country legally, it would have to give them to anyone from anywhere.

Steven Risch, director of international and graduate admission at Old Dominion University, said it's hard to know if the school has any undocumented students enrolled because it depends on how the student completes the application.

The paperwork asks if a student is a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident but the school doesn't require proof of citizenship for every student to enroll. If the school is made aware that a student's visa has expired, the student would be prevented from enrolling until the visa problem is fixed.

Risch pointed out that the school doesn't discriminate against applying students based on national origin or immigration status.

Delores T. Taylor, associate vice provost for enrollment services at Virginia Commonwealth University, said in an e-mail that "We do not knowingly admit undocumented students." Applicants are required to state their citizenry on the application, and if they are not U.S. citizens they must provide documentation, she wrote.

Risch of Old Dominion University questioned how the school could check the status of its 20,000-plus students.

Peace's legislation would not mandate how schools would check documentation, but he suggests that the offices that check residency for in-state tuition applicants could do the same for other students.

"We're not law officers," Risch said, "we're not immigration officers."

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx. ... -0144.html

I am sooooooo sick of this..."It's not my job..man"