Getting Ahead: Post-HB60 Educational Challenges for Latino Undocumented Students in Ilinois
Illinois' House Bill 60 (HB60), which was passed in 2003, allows undocumented students who reside in Illinois to pay in-state tuition at state universities if they meet certain requirements. Before HB60, long live residents of Illinois had to pay out-of-state tuition at most Illinois state universities because of their undocumented status. This made higher education less accessible to undocumented students. There is a need to study how HB60 provides greater access to higher education and has affected the experiences of undocumented students in Illinois. I conducted interviews at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The main objective of this research is to find what barriers undocumented students face in higher education after the enactment of HB60 at UIUC. To accomplish this objective I interviewed six Latino undocumented students and one administrator at the Office of Admissions & Records. A subsequent objective is to assess the effectiveness of HB60 based on students' experieces and the administrator's responses. I found that students face three types of barriers: structural, financial, and personal. Providing in-state tuition rates for undocumented students undoubtedly helps many highly motivated students to continue their college education. However, in-state tuition is not enough. Undocumented students still face many challenges while procuring their college careers. Furthermore, students who are undocumented are still in an immigration limbo after they attain their degrees. The talents and skills of high achieving and highly motivated undocumented students, like the ones in this study, will be futile if they are not allowed to become U.S citizens.
School:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department:
Sociology
Research Advisor:
Eileen Diaz McConnell
Department of Research Advisor:
Sociology
Year of Publication:
2005