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Last updated: May 30. 2005 10:54PM

Academic dream may be out of reach
Students’ undocumented status a barrier to higher education

By Veronica Gonzalez
Staff Writer
veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com

Luis Sanchez has his future all sketched out.
A pencil drawing the 17-year-old Pender County senior created depicts Luis as a young boy wearing a cap and gown, symbols of his academic aspirations.
In the background of the picture are images of his life as a farm worker, a past he wants to leave behind.
“I worked in a nursery,� he said, switching easily between Spanish and English as he reviewed his resume and portfolio of drawings and paintings. “I don’t want to do that. That’s why I’m pursuing a higher education than what my parents have, so I don’t work at a place like that, so I can get a better job, have a better life.�
The real picture of his life, however, remains incomplete. Luis, whose parents brought him here from Mexico when he was 7, is among an estimated 1,300 undocumented students in the state who face steep obstacles on their paths to college, including restrictive graduation rules and expensive tuition.
For Luis, whose father works in landscaping and mother works in a factory, the cost of college, at out-of-state rates, is daunting. Attending a university, for now, is out of the question. University of North Carolina’s 16 schools allow undocumented residents to earn degrees as long as they pay the out-of-state price tag. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, annual out-of-state tuition is $11,638, compared with $1,928 for in-state tuition.
Compounding the financial burden is the fact that undocumented residents can’t qualify for state or federal financial aid.
North Carolina legislators have been considering a proposal that would allow undocumented residents to pay for college at in-state tuition rates. Students would have to attend a state high school for four years to qualify. The proposal, HB 1183, is stuck in an education committee and appears unlikely to succeed. It’s the second time such a plan has been introduced.
Opponents for the measure worry that it will make the state more attractive for undocumented migrants and add to overcrowding. Proponents contend that easing access to higher education for these students is a worthy investment for the state.
However, even if costs were lowered, students find that, at some colleges, the price of graduation also includes a green card. Recent rules allow each college to decide the amount of access it wants to offer undocumented students. Cape Fear Community College, for example, won’t let them graduate; Brunswick and James Sprunt community colleges will.
School officials in Pender County and other areas grapple with how to help kids like Luis gain access to affordable college education.
“All of our students that are in that situation now, they’ve attended Pender County High schools for more than six years,� said Meredith Hobson, who coordinates programs at Pender County Schools for migrant education and English as a second language.
Pender County school officials are dealing with their first group of undocumented seniors, so educators were caught by surprise.
“We felt like they were such a part of our community,� Ms. Hobson said. “They do so much for our schools, and now, all of a sudden, they’re not being treated like all of our kids.�
Last summer, the N.C. Community College System, which is made up of the state’s 58 community colleges, allowed each school to decide whether to admit undocumented residents into degree programs. The college system doesn’t track how many schools allow undocumented residents to earn a degree, said Ken Whitehurst, associate vice president for academic and student services.
The schools in the University of North Carolina system also changed their policies last year to allow admission to undocumented residents who have graduated from U.S. high schools. However, these students must pay out-of-state tuition.
Cape Fear Community College doesn’t allow undocumented residents to earn degrees, although they can take continuing education and English-as-a-second-language classes.
CFCC officials say that, among other things, the policy prevents overcrowding.
“Our mission is to provide training to citizens of New Hanover and Pender County, and it’s unfortunate for the folks who are not U.S. citizens,� said David Hardin, a spokesman for the college.
The issue of access to higher education for undocumented residents is not unique to North Carolina. Policies vary from state to state, college to college. More than a half-dozen states – including California, Illinois, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Washington, – allow undocumented residents to pay in-state tuition rates, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
As for North Carolina, the current statewide tuition proposal seems unlikely to meet an important legislative deadline looming this week.
On Thursday, pending legislation that hasn’t received at least tentative approval in either the House or the Senate will be removed from the agenda. Bills that don’t make the so-called “crossover deadline� can’t be acted on for the rest of the legislative session, which ends next year. “The bill is certainly subject to crossover,� said Paul Luebke, D-Durham, one of the bill’s sponsors. “And there seems to be insufficient momentum to reopen a discussion of the merits of the bill.�
Opponents say that the North Carolina proposal would attract more undocumented residents to the state. They also argue that they would take up limited space in colleges and universities.
“For every illegal alien in college that’s one American that won’t be in college, and the American that didn’t get to go will be paying for the illegal that replaced them,� said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC. He added: “Rampant illegal immigration is going to destroy a lot of things we value in North Carolina. We don’t reward lawless behavior.�
Supporters say encouraging these students to attend college will result in a better-educated workforce. Mr. Gheen says that claim is irrelevant because the students cannot legally work in the United States.
Supporters also contend that current policy unfairly punishes undocumented students brought to the United States by their parents. Many of the students graduated from state high schools and should be entitled to in-state rates, they say. Besides, the investment in higher education will pay dividends to the entire state.
“The benefit of education goes far beyond this student that we’re talking about,� said Marco Zarate, president of the N.C. Society of Hispanic Professionals. “It goes far beyond their families. The reach of that benefit goes to the whole state. You have more-productive citizens. When you have drop-outs, for example, the possibility they’re going to be a burden for this society increases exponentially.�
Luis, like many other students, lacks immigration documentation because his parents brought him across the border illegally from the Mexican state of Guanajuato.
He said he doesn’t remember details, and it’s not something he and his parents discuss. But he does remember that his parents left Mexico in search of better-paying jobs and to get access to education for their children.
Luis said he didn’t realize he was undocumented until he was in middle school. “You never really talk about these sort of things with anybody,� he said. “You just sort of keep them to yourself. You always know about it, but it’s not until things like this happen that you realize what it means.�
Luis dreams of attending Savannah College of Art and Design, but at an estimated total cost of $35,000 a year, that university is too expensive for his parents to afford. For now, he’ll have to attend an area community college at a cost of $211 per semester hour.
Luis, who rehearsed for graduation before receiving his diploma Friday in his high school’s gym, said he wanted to speak out about the issue because he wants the law to change. He said he picked blueberries last summer because he couldn’t find a job. But he doesn’t want to go back to the fields.
In his drawing, a profile of President Bush rises from behind Luis’ cap-and-gown image.
“I’ve been living here for 10 years and I have to pay what somebody who hasn’t lived here has to pay, which is a lot more,� Luis said.

Mark Schreiner contributed to this report.

Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008
Veronica.gonzalez@starnewsonline.com