College Accessibility: What Can Vassar College Do?
As an educational institution, Vassar can most effectively respond to various refugee crises by admitting refugees to the college and providing them with financial aid. This is particularly true in the case of refugees from South and Central America, because due to geographical proximity, many Latin American refugees reach the United States but remain undocumented.
The 1982 Supreme Court case Plyer vs Doe ruled that public education must be available to all children k-12 regardless of their legal status. However, the ruling does not extend to higher education. According to a 2012 report conducted by Educators for Fair Consideration, there are “65,000 undocumented students who have lived in the United States for five or more years graduating from high school each year, [but only] 7,000 – 13,000 undocumented students [are] enrolled in college throughout the United States.” The most obvious barrier preventing qualified undocumented students from attending college is cost. Undocumented students, who are not eligible for Federal Aid, qualify for in state tuition in only 18 states. Alabama and South Carolina, have actively banned undocumented students from attending any publicly funded college or university.
Private schools, such as Vassar, have the opportunity to provide undocumented students who wish to attend college with a financially feasible alternative. However, Vassar currently categorizes US residents without legal status as international applicants. The Vassar application process is not need blind for international students, and out of over 850 applicants per year, only 35-45 are admitted. Although Vassar has the resources to fund undocumented students, who are among the most underserved populations in the United States, Vassar’s current admission policy stacks the odds against them. Given the challenges of attending college for undocumented students, including undocumented refugees, Vassar should consider reworking its admissions and financial aid policies regarding undocumented students.
Sources for Additional Information
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/financial-aid-and-undocumented-students.pdf
http://www.e4fc.org/images/Fact_Sheet.pdf -2012
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/undocumented-student-tuition-overview.aspx
