Among the good news that application rates are up now that the FAFSA revisions are complete is the sobering news that completion rates among students in mixed-status families dropped by more than 3000 in California. It appears that students living in households with one undocumented parent are opting out of applying for federal financial aid for fear their information would expose loved ones to immigration officials. Applications for state financial aid are also down.
“That is not a small fluctuation,” said Nicole Kangas, a CSAC spokesperson, at a recent media roundtable. “That is a sharp and significant withdrawal from financial aid and higher education systems. Each one of these numbers represents a student who is a U.S. citizen and is eligible for federal aid, as well as state aid. And we should be concerned by any signs of application declines among this vulnerable group.”
Kangas, of the California Student Aid Commission, continued:
“ California has spent years telling students that college is the pathway to opportunity. But for many immigrant students and [U.S. citizens in] mixed-status families, that message now collides with another reality: fear,” Kangas said. “Fear that applying for aid could expose a loved one to harm, and fear that the systems designed to support them may not be able to protect them. That fear is reshaping college-going behavior in California in real time, and if we do not respond with urgency, we risk losing an entire generation of students.”
I hope that other states are also collecting this data and that student advocates everywhere will also speak up about a federal government leveraging fear as social control.
I deeply hope that any high school senior who aspires to college has boundless support from teachers and advocates, unfettered access to information, and the open advocacy of every college they wish to attend.
