ASU Assistance to Undocumented Students Ends

Inside Higher Education reports that, when Arizona voters passed Proposition 300 in 2006, they barred immigrant students without legal status from enrolling at in-state tuition rates or receiving state financial aid. As expected, the measure led to declines in the number of such students enrolled at public colleges and universities. At Arizona State University, however, officials responded by announcing that they would use private scholarship funds to make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition rates.   ASU’s announcement was praised by many educators and advocates for immigrant students, but has been criticized repeatedly by the anti-immigrant groups that pushed for Proposition 300. After all that criticism, the university has announced that it has run out of money for the scholarships and that all it will provide these undocumented students is a list of private groups that award scholarships without checking immigration status.

But others said that Arizona State was missing an opportunity to help students.

Law prof Michael A. Olivas (Houston) said that there was no reason why Arizona State’s private fund raising arm could not raise money for scholarships. He noted that public universities in Texas took such an approach when an appeals court decision barred them from awarding special scholarships for minority students. “ASU could do this,” he said.

KJ