Many Dream Act scholarships for undocumented students go unused

Chyno · 06-02-2016, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Undocumented college students are leaving a wealth of unspent aid money on the table five years after the passage of the landmark California law that provides those immigrants grants for higher education.

The California Dream Act made them eligible for several kinds of grants to attend community colleges, California State Universities, the University of California and some private campuses. But the euphoria among advocates that accompanied the law’s passage has been dampened by the reality that the state-funded Cal Grant portion of the aid is reaching far fewer undocumented students than originally envisioned, particularly at community colleges.

A variety of bureaucratic hurdles, along with students’ personal money problems, confusion about rules and fears of government, are causing students to not tap their Dream Act Cal Grants, according to officials and students.

About a third of the overall awards went unused last year, even after careful vetting of applicants for low income, high school grades and other eligibility factors. Making matters worse, nearly half of the Cal Grants awarded for community college costs were left on the table, as millions of state dollars earmarked for immigrant students went unspent. UC and CSU had better records.

Lupita Cortez Alcalá, executive director of the California Student Aid Commission, said she was “not comfortable” with the participation rates in the Dreamer grants at community colleges in particular. “Of course we are concerned about those numbers,” she said, “and we want more students who are awarded those grants to use them for their higher education.”

She said efforts are underway to reach out to more to students and community colleges to learn why young people — many of whom were brought to the U.S. as small children — are bypassing the aid. The agency, which administers Cal Grants, wants to solve any communication and payment problems, she said.

One contributing factor is that these undocumented students are not eligible for federal grants and loans; so the California aid — even bolstered by waivers of community college fees and other grants for UC and Cal State students — may not be enough to cover total expenses including food, housing and books. As a result, some students abandon college and instead take full-time jobs, forgoing the Cal grants, which range for full-time students from $1,656 a year at community colleges to $12,240 at UC.

A recent survey by the California Student Aid Commission found that some students who did not take the aid blamed high costs of living in the state. In other cases, the reason was less about hardship than communication: many students in the survey reported they had not known of the Cal Grant offers despite what commission officials say were numerous attempts to contact them. A significant number enrolled at community colleges anyway, getting fee waivers but not the Cal Grants, which require more information to qualify, such as high school grades. The colleges contend that shows that they are helping these students as much as possible and that the commission’s statewide rules for verifying and distributing the Cal Grants are partly at fault for the low number of takers.

https://edsource.org/2016/many-dream...-unused/564127

When I was in college, I would be happy if I had this available.

People need to realize we cannot push everybody to do college. People have rights to do trades or become whatever they want.

Maybe a lot of illegals don't have time for school.

IamAman · 06-03-2016, 11:24 AM

The world needs ditch diggers too. If the resources are there and people (documented or otherwise) don't take advantage of it then that's on them.

EdoIsa · 04:08 AM

I've been in Community College for almost 5 years and I never received "aid."

Now, pay attention to what I mean by "aid" ... I apply for FAFSA and get qualified, but then the financial office constantly requires proof of legal residence (obviously). So then I apply for the CA Dream Act application and my school's financial office shuts up and pays for my units.

What I don't understand is what they mean by "aid" ... is my school covering the costs of my units the "aid" or am I also qualified to receive financial aid checks like legal residents do from FAFSA?

markten · 06-08-2016, 03:14 PM

Maybe if they offered that in Georgia, I would've totally took advantage of it! But too bad, I had to pay out of state tuition on my own...thus why I am still not graduating a 2 year college!! :/

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Many Dream Act scholarships for undocumented students go unused