WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2004
EDUCATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Break on tuition might not help many
Immigrant tuition bill doesn't include any form of financial aid
By Jay Senter
jsenter@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Editor's note: The names of individuals in this story were changed to protect them from anti-immigrant backlash.
Virginia V. first came to the United States from Mexico, where she was born, when she was 6. She moved between the United States and Mexico frequently, but came here for good six years ago. Though she is not a U.S. citizen, she attended public high school in Kansas City, Kan., where she made good grades and graduated this spring.
Now, Virginia wants to go to Kansas State University to study interior design. But she and her mother can't afford four years of tuition at K-State.
"My mom is a single parent and doesn't have much, so I am starting to work to help her out," Virginia said. "But I also want to get an education. It is impossible."
Instead of K-State, Virginia intends to start out at community college where she has a full scholarship, and hopes to transfer after two years.
Her situation represents the irony of a law that will go into effect tomorrow.
This session, the Legislature passed a bill that would allow certain undocumented immigrants, like Virginia, to pay in-state tuition at Kansas universities. To be eligible for the in-state benefit a student must have attended a Kansas high school for three years, and have graduated from a Kansas high school or been issued a GED in the state.
Though immigrant advocates applauded the law because it would make state universities more accessible to the students, in-state tuition is still cost-prohibitive for many immigrant families.
The new law does not ensure the students will be able to afford Kansas universities because undocumented immigrants are not eligible for financial aid, said Melinda Lewis, director of policy advocacy and research at El Centro, a Kansas City, Kan., non-profit agency that works on creating educational and social opportunities for families.
"There is a misconception that this has thrown wide open the door, and
there are going to be all these immigrant kids who get a free ride or something," Lewis said. "That is certainly not what we are seeing."
She said now they were seeing kids who had a slightly greater chance of going to the school they want, but far from a sure thing.
Some politicians, among them Republican congressional candidate Kris Kobach, have charged that the new bill would cost Kansas taxpayers millions by subsidizing tuition for thousands of non-citizens.
But higher education officials dispute that claim.
Kevin Boatright, interim vice chancellor for University Relations, said that while it was difficult to estimate what impact the law would have, it was possible that very few undocumented immigrants would be able to take advantage of the new tuition rate.
"The law at least makes college tuition not such an insurmountable hurdle," Boatright said. "But when you consider that these students aren't eligible for financial aid, you wonder whether in-state tuition is too much for them to afford."
If nothing else, the law has given undocumented immigrant students the
knowledge that they have not been completely priced-out of universities in the state.
Kristian G., a 14 year old from Wichita, traveled to Topeka to testify before the Legislature on the importance of the bill.
Born in Mexico, Kristian, like Virginia, has never become a legal citizen. His parents work at a plant nursery and on construction sites.
They make enough money to get by, but Kristian knew that if he were to become the first person in his family with a college degree, in-state tuition would be a must.
Now that the law has passed, Kristian knows he will have to start saving for college.
"Right now I'm not sure I can afford it, but I hope I can," he said. "I will have to work really hard."
He's started this summer with a parttime job helping his mother at the plant nursery. It may be the first step toward a college degree.
"I want to become someone important, and I want to be admired," Kristian said. "I want to have a good job, and for that you need a good education."
— Edited by Marc Ingber