DREAMing of College: The Impact of Restrictive and Accommodating In-State Resident Tuition Policies for Undocumented Students on College Choice and Preparation

• In Event: Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Background
While immigration reform has stalled, many states have passed policies concerning college access for unauthorized immigrants. These policies are significant because undocumented students are often poor and do not qualify for federal student aid. In-state resident tuition policies for undocumented students decrease college costs and, from a human capital perspective, should encourage enrollment (Becker, 1962). Many social scientists have determined the impacts of ISRT policies (Amuedo-Dorantes & Sparber, 2014; Flores, 2010a, 2010b; Kaushal, 2008) and generally find positive effects.

Yet there are limitations with this literature. First, most researchers ignore the various approaches to unauthorized immigrants in higher education. Seven states have allowed undocumented students to qualify for state-distributed student aid in addition to the tuition discount, while 12 states have banned ISRT. Second, policy effects may vary by institution, pushing students into (out of) more selective colleges. While studies have examined selectivity (Darolia & Potochnick, 2015; Dickson & Pender, 2013), they focus on enrolled students or on students accepted to five state institutions. Third, with college more affordable, undocumented students may try harder in school and complete rigorous high school curricula. To date, no study has examined these antecedent effects.

Data
Data for the choice analysis come from the Current Population Survey and the sample consists of Mexicans 18-24. I cannot identify unauthorized immigrants, and focus on foreign-born non-citizens. States are classified into categories: 1) no policy 2) policies banning tuition discounts, 3) policies allowing tuition discounts, and 4) policies allowing tuition discounts and state financial aid. The outcomes examined are the level—2/4-year—and intensity—part/full-time—of enrollment.

Data for the preparation analysis come from the California and Texas state education agencies, which contain school-level information on graduates who complete the courses required for college entry. I construct a panel dataset of school-by-race observations where the outcome predicted is the percentage of students in a given race in a given school who meet the state definition of college-ready.

Methods
I use triple difference models that leverage the variation in ISRT policy adoption and focus on disproportionately affected groups (FBNC Mexicans, Hispanics).

Results
Focusing on the interaction effects in Table 3, which represent DiDiD estimates, it appears that bans decrease the odds of 2- and 4-year attendance. In contrast, ISRT SFA exerts strong, positive effects. There do not appear to be any significant impacts of ISRT without state financial aid on the enrollment of undocumented students. Table 4 presents the intensity results and shows similar patterns. ISRT SFA positively impacts part- and full-time attendance, whereas bans have negative effects. There are no impacts of ISRT without state financial aid. Table 6 shows a series of robustness checks and the findings are quite stable.

The Hispanic interaction effects in Table 8 show that ISRT increases college preparation in California and Texas. The results are robust to additional specifications (Tables 9-10).

Discussion
Findings show that statewide bans negatively impact college choice, while ISRT policies that offer state financial aid show positive effects. In contrast to prior work, I find no measurable impact of ISRT policies without financial aid. Unauthorized immigrants are disproportionately poor (Passel & Cohn, 2009), and the reduced cost may be insufficient to encourage enrollment.

ISRT in California and ISRT SFA in Texas increase the college preparation of Hispanic youth. While both policies may raise the aspirations and academic performance of unauthorized youth in the short term, when it is time to make a decision, only ISRT SFA translates into enrollment. Students may understand that tuition discounts lower college costs and aspire to enroll early in high school, but fail to realize that ISRT without state financial aid is still a significant financial barrier to attendance.

Author

• Brian Holzman, Stanford University