Last month, the U.S. Senate approved a comprehensive immigration overhaul bill that would provide a solution for a number of international education issues in higher education.
The bipartisan legislation bill, which passed 68-32 last month, would provide a gateway to college for thousands of young people who were brought into the United States as children. Under S. 744, these undocumented students would be eligible to receive federal student aid and to petition for citizenship five years after graduating from high school and completing some college or military service. About 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school every year and almost 2 million undocumented students reside in America.
S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, would also benefit international students pursuing education in high-demand fields. Other provisions in S. 744 would ease the visa process for some international students. Foreigners who earned Ph.D.'s at American universities would be eligible for green cards, while international students who completed master's degrees or Ph.D.'s in STEM fields could petition for a card.
Melanie Gottlieb, AACRAO Vice President for International Education and Director of Admission Operations & International Campus Liaison for Webster University, is hopeful about the Senate bill's potential for expanding higher education access for undocumented students.
"Up to now, the undocumented student issue has been tackled inconsistently and unsuccessfully by the states," said Gottlieb. "Without a federal mandate, only 20 states have laws on the books that give guidance to institutions on issues around undocumented student access to education; eight of those states have regulations that are restrictive in nature."
Gottlieb also noted that the Senate immigration bill would require all private institutions to develop policies increasing access to undocumented students.
"Unless in a border state where pressures are greatest, private institutions generally have less developed policies, if any policy at all," noted Gottlieb.
House stalls immigration bill
Immigration reform from the House is likely to be handled piecemeal, instead of one comprehensive reform package. The Republican-dominated House appears unlikely to take up any immigration measures on the floor this month, and House immigration bills may not be released until at least September.
Despite the uncertainty of the House immigration bill, Gottlieb is optimistic about the Senate bill and its impact on higher education institutional policy.
"If fundamentally unchanged, the current bill would allow undocumented students to come out of the shadows and receive tuition, financial aid, and scholarship equity with their high school peers and a meaningful path to citizenship and their careers. It sets a clear national agenda upon which to build a consistent institutional policy around undocumented student admission and provide an equal opportunity for the pursuit of success for all the high school graduates in the U.S."
Read AACRAO's public policy and education agenda here.