As aid to illegal students increases, American students pay more for college
According to a new report, college students are bearing more of the costs for public colleges and universities while the government has cut funding.
This comes as several colleges and universities have announced increased aid opportunities for illegal and DACA students.
American college students are paying more of the cost to obtain a degree while government funding has decreased by $6.6 billion over ten years. At the same time, many schools across the country are increasing illegal students’ access to government aid.
Since 2008, states have spent $1,220, or 13 percent less on average per student while annual published tuition at four-year colleges has increased by nearly $3,000, or 37 percent. In 41 states, average tuition increased by more than 20 percent. Seven states saw average tuition increase by over 60 percent, according to a recent report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
This comes as several public colleges and universities have recently offered financial resources to illegal immigrant and DACA students.
[RELATED: Immigration experts: In-state tuition for illegal aliens violates Clinton-era federal law]
Campus Reform has reported on the increasing number of colleges and universities that provide financial resources to illegal immigrant and DACA students, such as $3.8 million in tuition aid for illegal immigrant students in New Jersey, and an estimated $2.9 million in resources to California DACA students.
The University of California-Berkeley also provides financial aid for illegal immigrant students, while Colorado public institutions like the University of Colorado-Denver provide illegal immigrant students access to state-funded aid.
Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Twelve states and the District of Columbia also offer state financial aid to illegal immigrant students.
The study’s authors noted that “published tuition” prices are “rarely the actual price they face when affording college,” as the actual cost of attendance is often greater when one takes into account room, board, student fees, etc.
[RELATED: ASU offers support groups for illegal students, ‘ally’ workshops for citizens]
The same report states that colleges’ responses to decreased funding include raising tuition, changing course offerings, and reducing faculty.
Other notable findings reveal that between 2008 and 2018, 41 states decreased spending per student. Nineteen states decreased spending by 20 percent per student.
David North, a resident scholar who studies education and migration at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Campus Reform that admitting illegal immigrant students and providing them with financial resources such as scholarships and in-state tuition typically reduces scholarship money for low-income American students. North also added that admitting illegal immigrant students affected admissions for other students.
“The arrival of substantial numbers of illegal aliens students would shoulder aside an equal number of marginal citizen applicants,” North said.
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