DREAMers, DACA Grantees Return to Maricopa County Community Colleges with In-State-Tuition

In what is considered one of the most important milestones for DREAMers in Arizona and across the nation, the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition will be celebrating Monday, January the 7th the return of immigrant youth, DACA grantees, to Maricopa County Community Colleges (MCCCD) with In-State-Tuition. 

This situation comes as a reversal of bad policy on the immigration-education landscape of Arizona and it is a sign of hope for the economic future in the State and the nation, thanks to DACA.

 After the passage of prop.300 and implementation of anti-education, anti-immigrant laws in Arizona, the enrollment of undocumented immigrant youth, DREAMers, to higher education institutions collapsed.   There was no ban in place but the cost of education, which tripled by out-of-state fees, was put out of the reach of immigrant families.

With the announcement by president Obama on June 15^th granting Deferred Action for persons who arrived as children to the USA (DACA), a door was open for those who apply for this process, get a work permit, to request In-State-Tuition at Maricopa Community Colleges. 

Maricopa Community Colleges is the largest Community Colleges System in the nation.

Since 2007, when Arizona’s Prop 300 took effect and the state began to keep track of undocumented students, it has come evident the number of undocumented students attending  state’s universities and community colleges has fallen dramatically. Read this article by journalist Griselda Nevarez.  1,524 students who were attending one of the three public universities in 2007  were not able to prove a legal status. The number of students in this situation had dropped to 13 by the spring 2012 semester.

There were 1,470 students who couldn’t prove a legal status and were attending the state’s community colleges in spring 2007. By 2012 that number had dropped to 882. Most of these students were only taking one or two classes at a time.

“In the past years we saw a collapse  participation of immigrant youth population in community colleges and Universities, in spite of the talent dreamers had demonstrated when they graduate from high schools, being top of the class and valedictorians.  It is an absolute waste of human resources and talent”, said Dulce Matuz, president of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition. “We are not seeking special treatment; we are only striving for a leveled plain field.  We are taxpayers too and we support education through our taxes, some of us for decades”, said Matuz.

To be granted In-State-Tuition at MCCCD is necessary for the DACA grantees to present the work authorization card (I-766) and another document that demonstrates their residence in Maricopa County.  This is the set of documents that may be presented (scroll down to County Residency).

The move from MCCCD granting In-State-tuitions came, in great part, to the pressure dreamers and advocates had put to MCCCD when all venues for affordable education were closed during the spring of 2011.  Dreamers had been able to access classes with in-state-tuition when taking one or two classes due to a special administrative classification in place for many years back.  ADAC members protested MCCCD and held many private meetings into the reasoning behind closing the last administrative venue for affordable tuition. Read this article on the series of protests.

So far in State-Tuition in Arizona is only attainable at Maricopa County Community Colleges District (MCCCD).  We advocates are encouraging Arizona Board of Regents and other Community Colleges in Arizona to find legal tools and grant IST to DACA grantees.

Why Ban When You Can Price them Out???

It is like an euphemism. Do not ban undocumented students from Higher Education just price them out. On the day Community Colleges classes start in 10 institutions in the Metro Phoenix area, members of the Arizona DREAM Act Coalition and Education Advocates mark with sadness the elimination of affordable tuition rates for out of state students.

Last March Maricopa Community Colleges District (MCCCD) approved a tuition hike close to 230% targeting “Out of State” individuals including, but not exclusively, undocumented students which already made countless sacrifices to pay for one or two classes each semester.

MCCCD is one of the largest Community Colleges systems in the nation.

“Out of State” students taking six credits hours or less (one or two classes) paid last semester 96 dollars per credit but under the new policies implemented, MCCCD is charging 317 dollars per credit or about 1000 dollars per class even if they take limited schedule. Students taking more than six credits have been already paying triple “In State Tuition” for years already.

Before the tuition hike 1 to 6 credit hours was the little window of opportunity for affordable higher education undocumented students had in one of the largest community colleges systems in the nation.

Beside the tuition hike, MCCCD voted for a harsh interpretation of laws that require the reporting to ICE and DHS of undocumented students by the institution that students are supposed to trust. The financial and admission department’s personnel are forced to report on the immigration status of the students if they disclose it. The powerful and influential Legal Counsel threatens jail time to not complying personnel.

The process in which these changes were implemented was done in secrecy, with original implementation taskforces disappearing and other political interest groups supplanting a cross-section of the departments that deal with enrollment.

The implementation of these measures is contrary to the financial health of MCCCD because they will lose income from thousands of students dropping out and now it takes more personnel time to check on the paperwork of ALL students. Also new forms have been printed, new processes established and hasty personnel training given to have the appearance of compliance also adds to the costs of implementing flawed policies.

The MCCCD board has, in short, betrayed its own mission of providing access to higher education.

The new policies are also affecting programs that MCCCD had in partnership with K-12 institutions including ACE, dual enrollment, and its own charter schools, which prepared students to move into post-secondary education. The reporting issue is also present in these environments, possibly violating Federal laws.

This situation we live in Arizona is contrary with the well-being of the State. Our State will not have a globally competitive workforce if higher education affordability is eliminated for thousands and thousands of students.

What happens in Arizona is also a cautionary tale of the spreading tentacles of a battery of immigration laws passed over a period of time.