*The Urban Institute estimates that 65,000 undocumented students—that is, children born abroad who are not U.S. citizens or legal residents—graduate from U.S. high schools each year. These children are guaranteed an education in U.S. public schools through grade 12, but may face legal and financial barriers to higher education.

*In the U.S. there are 1.7 million undocumented youth under age 18, with approximately 1.3 million having lived in the US for 5 years or more and enrolled in K-12 schools in the year 2002.

*1.5% of all children PK-5th are undocumented, and 3% of youth grades 6-12 do not have legal status.

*About 80,000 undocumented immigrants turn 18 each year, but 16-20% of them fail to complete high school.

*Only 1 out of every 20 (5%) of undocumented high school seniors attends college.

*Even those who graduate from college cannot work legally in the U.S.

*Of undocumented high school graduates who have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years, only 20% enroll in post-
secondary education.

Undocumented students may assume that they cannot legally attend college in the United States. This is not true. There is no federal or state law that prohibits the admission of undocumented immigrants to U.S. colleges and universities, public or private, nor does federal or state law require students to prove citizenship in order to enter U.S. institutions of higher education. However, institutional policies on admitting undocumented students vary.

For example, many 4-year state colleges in Virginia (following a 2003 recommendation by the state attorney general) require applicants to submit proof of citizenship or legal residency, and refuse admission to students without documentation. This policy is not, however, a state law. In many other states, public institutions accept undocumented students but treat them as foreign students so that they are ineligible for state aid and for the lower tuition charged to state residents.

Photo taken from racewire.org