Undocumented high school students who want to attend college have support in Illinois

On a recent school night at Mansueto High School in Back of the Yardscollege recruiters from across Illinois pitched to an unlikely audience whose members had every reason to believe college wasn’t for them. The event was the sixth annual college fair organized by charter chain Noble Schools specifically for undocumented students.

“It’s very welcoming because the universities are saying, ‘Yes, come to us, we’ve got you.’ We’ll help you pay for it. We will give you scholarships. We’re going to build this club,” says Briza Angel, a college counselor, as she watches her students chat with recruiters. “It’s one thing to see it on the sheet, ‘OK, these are your options.’ And it’s a completely different thing to go to a fair and talk to people who say, “Yes, we have these resources.”

Kevin Guzman, a student at ITW David Speer Academy on the West Side, says before the event that he had doubts about getting into college because of his immigration status.

“At first I was going to serve in the army because I thought it would be the easiest way out. … I was going to get my citizenship, and I was going to get a whole lot of money,” Guzman says. “Now I look at these colleges here and think, ‘Okay, maybe perhaps there is a chance for me.”

For years, undocumented students have largely been told they don’t belong in college. They don’t have access to federal financial aid, and in most states they have to pay for out-of-state tuition without the help of state grants.

But there are undocumented students in Illinois better shot when enrolling and paying for college tuition. The state is one of 19 where undocumented students can apply for public funding and one of 25 where they pay in-state tuition.

Equally important is the network of adults who work overtime to help these students navigate the maze of paperwork and find a campus where they can get the support they need to succeed. This network includes Angel, who was once an undocumented high school student with dreams of college.

Her efforts come at a time when tuition and student debt are rising and more Americans are questioning the value of college. Poll published by Gallup in July found that nearly one-third of Americans have little or no confidence in higher education.

But the work of Angel and advocates for undocumented students across the state is a rejection of college skepticism from one of its least-accessed communities.

“College is not the only path to success. It’s true,” says Ide Acosta, principal college consultant for the Noble chain. “But do we tell all children this? Or do we only say that to black and brown kids? Because I refuse to rehabilitate the gendered and racialized identities of our communities, this college is impossible for them.”

Acosta, who was once undocumented, says her parents did not have college degrees and had to work long hours at physically demanding jobs. She says that they wanted something else for her.

“We often talk to students who are just learning what their status means for the first time and feel hopeless,” she says. “And I always remind them that education is the one thing no one can take away from you, no matter where you are in life, in the world.”

It’s something students can hold on to, she says, when there’s so much, including their legal status in this country, that they can’t handle.