Toolkit | Access to Postsecondary Education

Toolkit | Access to Postsecondary Education


ESTIMATES OF ELIGIBLE STUDENTS

TOOLKIT CONTENTSUndocumented Youth Comprise a Small Segment of the Student Population

Children of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

High School Students and Graduates Who Are Undocumented

State-Specific Educational Attainment Data


Undocumented Youth Comprise a Small Segment of the Student Population

Reliable nationwide and state estimates of college students who are undocumented are difficult to obtain, since most institutions do not maintain data on these students. Any estimates are not easily compared, since the sources do not use uniform methods. Research generally concludes that the number of undocumented students who could benefit from tuition equity laws or policies represent a small fraction of the student bodies at state postsecondary institutions. This is not surprising, since over 80 percent of the children of undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens. These students typically are eligible to pay in-state tuition rates and to qualify for state financial aid, if otherwise eligible. Moreover, the majority of undocumented immigrants remain concentrated in a few traditional immigrant-receiving states.

Four of the five states with the largest number of undocumented immigrants (California, Illinois, New York, and Texas) already permit students who meet certain criteria to qualify for in-state tuition and state financial aid, regardless of their immigration status. Florida also offers in-state tuition for certain students. Even with these laws in place, however, the number of undocumented students in postsecondary education institutions in these states remains small. For immigrant students from low- and middle-income families, getting to college is an uphill battle.


Children of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States

Undocumented Students in Higher Education: How Many Students Are in U.S. Colleges and Universities, and Who Are They? (Miriam Feldblum, Steven Hubbard, Andrew Lim, Christian Penichet-Paul, and Hanna Siegel, New American Economy and Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, April 2020).

Undocumented students account for more than 450,000 or approximately 2 percent of the students enrolled in higher education in the U.S. Undocumented college or university students are concentrated in a small number of states, with a majority living in 5 states—California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois. More than 68,000 undocumented students live in other states, including New Jersey, Maryland, Georgia, Washington, Virginia, and North Carolina. 82 percent of all undocumented immigrant students are enrolled in two- or four-year public colleges and universities.

As Growth Stalls, Unauthorized Immigrant Population Becomes More Settled (Jeffrey S. Passel, D’Vera Cohn, Jens Manuel Krogstad, and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Pew Research Center, September 2014).

  • The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States has stabilized since 2009. Among the 10.4 million unauthorized adults in the U.S., a shrinking share have been in the country for less than five years; a rising share have lived in the U.S. for a decade or more—62% in 2012, compared with 35% in 2000. About a fifth (21%) had been in the U.S. for two decades or more as of 2012.
  • In 2012, 4 million, or 38% of adults, lived with their U.S.-born children, either minors or adults. About three-quarters of unauthorized parents residing with their U.S.-born children in 2012—3 million—had lived in the U.S. for 10 years or more.
  • In 2012, there were 775,000 unauthorized children under age 18, and 4.5 million U.S.-born children living with at least one unauthorized parent. The number of unauthorized immigrant children has declined in recent years.


High School Students and Graduates Who Are Undocumented

Immigrant-Origin Students in U.S. Higher Education: A Data Profile (Jeanne Batalova and Miriam Feldblum, Migration Policy Institute, October 2020).

  • Of the 19 million students at U.S. colleges and universities in 2018, 28 percent were either first-generation immigrants or the children of immigrants. These students account for 58 percent of the growth of the student population between 2000 and 2018.
  • Of the 1.7 million immigrant-origin students in 2018, half were naturalized U.S. citizens and the other half had lawful permanent residence, humanitarian immigration relief, or were undocumented.
  • In 2018, the states with the largest number of immigrant-origin students were California (1,352,000), Texas (559,000), New York (488,000), and Florida (487,000).
  • In 2018, immigrant-origin students made up 85 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander students, 63 percent of Latino students, and 24 percent of Black students, compared to 10 percent of white students.

Fact Sheet: An Overview of Undocumented Students (Immigrants Rising, August 2020).

  • 11.3 million undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
  • 1.3 million undocumented immigrants ages 18-24 live in the U.S.
  • 92,000 undocumented students who graduate from high school each year have lived in the U.S. for at least five years. 5-10 percent of these individuals go to college.
  • 454,000 undocumented immigrant youth and adult learners are enrolled in U.S. schools and colleges.
  • Undocumented college students face the obstacle of having to pay the cost of full-time enrollment at a public college or university, ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 per year, without financial aid.

How Many Unauthorized Immigrants Graduate from U.S. High Schools Annually? (Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova, Migration Policy Institute, April 2019).

  • MPI estimates that approximately 98,000 unauthorized immigrants graduate from U.S. high schools every year, with California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois accounting for 62 percent of these graduates.

In-State Tuition for Non-Citizen Resident Texans: What You Need to Know (Center for Public Policy Priorities, 2015).

  • In 2013, 24,770 non–U.S. citizen resident students out of 1,303,684 total students (1.9 percent of total students) paid in-state tuition under Texas’s tuition equity law (HB 1403).

Diploma, Please: Promoting Educational Attainment for DACA- and Potential DREAM Act-Eligible Youth (Margie McHugh, Migration Policy Institute, September 2014).

  • “[E]xplores the challenges to educational attainment facing three key subgroups of the DACA program: those under age 19, those age 19 and over without a high school diploma or equivalent, and those age 19 and older with only a high school diploma or equivalent.”
  • “[P]rovides a demographic snapshot of these groups and examines the impacts of DACA’s unprecedented educational requirement on potential beneficiaries and the programs that serve them.”
  • “[O]ffers recommendations for actions that policymakers, education and training program managers, and other stakeholders can take to support the educational success of these youth.”


State-Specific Educational Attainment Data

In-State Tuition for Non-Citizen Resident Texans: What You Need to Know (Center for Public Policy Priorities, 2015).

  • In 2013, 24,770 non–U.S. citizen resident students out of 1,303,684 total students (1.9 percent of total students) paid in-state tuition under Texas’s tuition equity law (HB 1403).

Nearly 2,500 Students Benefit from Florida Tuition Equity Law During First Year (Florida College Access Network, November 2015).

  • On average, in-state tuition costs an estimated $15,200 less a year at state universities and $8,400 a year less at state and community colleges, saving eligible students 248 percent and 269 percent respectively. Prior to implementing the July 2014 tuition waiver, the cost of tuition made attending college in Florida prohibitive for the vast majority of undocumented students in Florida.
  • During the first year of the policy’s implementation, 2,475 students attending 31 Florida public colleges and universities used the tuition waiver.

Diploma, Please: Promoting Educational Attainment for DACA- and Potential DREAM Act-Eligible Youth (Margie McHugh, Migration Policy Institute, September 2014).

  • “[E]xplores the challenges to educational attainment facing three key subgroups of the DACA program: those under age 19, those age 19 and over without a high school diploma or equivalent, and those age 19 and older with only a high school diploma or equivalent.”
  • “[P]rovides a demographic snapshot of these groups and examines the impacts of DACA’s unprecedented educational requirement on potential beneficiaries and the programs that serve them.”
  • “[O]ffers recommendations for actions that policymakers, education and training program managers, and other stakeholders can take to support the educational success of these youth.”