Undocumented Students and Public Universities

The recent failure of the latest version of the DREAM Act will leave it almost completely to the states to deal with undocumented students in the puvlic colleges and universities.  We can probably expect more state laws and more litigation over undocumented students in higher education.  The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting article discussing the challenges facing public colleges and universities with respect to undocumented students in light of new state laws and greater public scrutiny of the treatment of undocumented stuidents.  Sara Hebel “Arizona’s Colleges Are in the Crosshairs of Efforts to Curb Illegal Immigration,” Chronicle of Higher Education (Nov. 2) specifically looks at Arizona’s strict new limits on educational benefits for undocumented immigrants that took effect at the beginning of this year.  According to the article, the new law has “brought new scrutiny to the state’s colleges and their students and forced educators to assume an awkward role as enforcers.”

KJ