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Undocumented College Students in the United States: In-State Tuition Not Enough to Ensure Four-Year Degree Completion

Author

Listed:
  • Dylan Conger

    (Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University)

  • Colin C. Chellman

    (Institutional and Policy Research, The City University of New York)

Abstract

Using restricted-access data from one of the largest urban public university systems in the United States—where many undocumented students are eligible for in-state tuition—we review the literature on undocumented college students in the United States and provide a comparison of the performance of undocumented students to that of U.S. citizens and other legal migrants. Overall, undocumented students perform well in the short-term, earning higher grades and higher rates of course and associate degree completion than their U.S. citizen counterparts. But undocumented students are less likely to earn their bachelor's degrees within four years. This finding suggests that, despite their earlier college successes and their access to in-state tuition rates, at some point after enrollment, undocumented students experience higher costs to completing their bachelor's degrees than they had anticipated upon enrollment. We offer a number of policy considerations for university officials and policy makers who aim to help undocumented college students succeed in postsecondary institutions. © 2013 Association for Education Finance and Policy

Suggested Citation

  • Dylan Conger & Colin C. Chellman, 2013. "Undocumented College Students in the United States: In-State Tuition Not Enough to Ensure Four-Year Degree Completion," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 364-377, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:364-377
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    File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/EDFP_a_00101
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jennifer Glick & Michael White, 2003. "academic trajectories of immigrant youths: Analysis within and across cohorts," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(4), pages 759-783, November.
    2. Stiefel, Leanna & Schwartz, Amy Ellen & Conger, Dylan, 2010. "Age of entry and the high school performance of immigrant youth," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 303-314, May.
    3. Neeraj Kaushal, 2008. "In-state tuition for the undocumented: Education effects on Mexican young adults," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 771-792.
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    Cited by:

    1. Conger, Dylan & Turner, Lesley J., 2017. "The effect of price shocks on undocumented students' college attainment and completion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 92-114.
    2. Amy Hsin & Francesc Ortega, 2018. "The Effects of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals on the Educational Outcomes of Undocumented Students," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(4), pages 1487-1506, August.
    3. Ortega, Francesc & Hsin, Amy, 2018. "Occupational Barriers and the Labor Market Penalty from Lack of Legal Status," IZA Discussion Papers 11680, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Dylan Conger & Lesley J. Turner, 2015. "The Impact of Tuition Increases on Undocumented College Students' Attainment," NBER Working Papers 21135, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    undocumented students; college students; in-state tuition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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