Immigrants in New York Fare Better in College Than Their Counterparts Nationwide

Washington, D.C., Feb. 27, 2008——Members of New York’s immigrant community—one of the largest in the United States—enjoy greater access to college compared with their counterparts nationwide, according to a new analysis from the Washington, D.C.-based Institute on Higher Education Policy (IHEP).

Due to a number of barriers, legal immigrants nationwide are less likely to enroll in college than their native-born peers. Of those who do, nearly half attend two-year institutions as opposed to four-year campuses, and less than one-quarter earn a bachelor’s degree after five years.

However, over two-thirds of New York’s immigrant undergraduate students are enrolled at four-year colleges and universities, compared to just 36 percent nationwide, according to IHEP’s new analysis. Further, 55 percent of immigrant undergraduates in New York were enrolled full-time, compared to 43 percent nationally.

In addition, more than twice as many immigrant undergraduate students in New York attend private four-year campuses (28 percent), compared to just 12 percent nationwide. This difference is due in a large part to the fact that almost half of New York’s immigrant students—49 percent—received state grant aid, compared to only 17 percent nationally.

Even undocumented immigrant students have enjoyed greater access to higher education in New York, as they are eligible to pay in-state tuition provided that they meet a set of requirements. Currently, the New York legislature is considering a bill that would allow undocumented immigrants—who make up about 14 percent of the state’s overall immigrant population—access to the state’s Tuition Assistance Program.

“By 2020, there will be 14 million more skilled jobs requiring at least some college education in the United States than people to fill them,” said Wendy Erisman, Ph.D., director of research and evaluation for IHEP. “Greater attention must be paid to the ability of immigrants to pursue higher education and contribute to America’s workforce and competitiveness. For all the history of immigration in New York, the city’s current ability to put college within reach of more immigrants can have a profound impact our nation for generations to come.”

IHEP’s recent report (Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants) highlighted the plight of legal immigrant college students who must contend with bureaucratic mazes, financial need, work and family responsibilities, inadequate academic preparation, and limited English proficiency in their efforts to enroll in and complete college. However, despite being comparable in size to the total number of Black, Hispanic, or disabled students in college, the “invisible community” of immigrants is all but ignored in debates over higher education policy.

But in New York, home to the nation’s third largest legal immigrant population with limited English proficiency—who make up 21 percent of the state’s population and 37 percent of New York City’s population—a number of factors contribute to greater success for immigrants in higher education, according to the new findings:

• In 2002, New York passed legislation revising tuition guidelines to allow undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition if they graduated from a New York high school or earned a GED in the state, applied to a state college or university within five years of completing the secondary credential, and agreed to apply for legal immigration status.
• Advocacy organizations assess state and local policies on ESL instruction at the K-12 level, monitor city and state legislation concerning immigrant rights, and advocate for immigrant students and parents.
• City University of New York (CUNY) community colleges offer important programs that help immigrant students develop English language skills, such as the CUNY Language Immersion Program (also known as CLIP).

“Immigrants in New York are confronted with the same challenges that immigrants elsewhere face in gaining access to college,” said James McGovern, Director of Administration & Government Relations at CUNY’s Citizen and Immigration Project. “Many have parents with no college education, and most come from high-poverty backgrounds. But they have greater advantages in New York thanks to a range of efforts by state officials, advocates, and college administrators who have collectively shown what can be possible through cooperative efforts to address this important challenge.”

The New York findings makes several recommendations for increasing access and success in higher education for immigrants that include: increasing support for programs that address the barriers to college faced by immigrants; creating more transparent financial aid and college application processes; and creating state, local and institutional policies that target the differing needs of various immigrant populations.

The New York findings are drawn from Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants, a report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) that examines barriers that can prevent immigrants from enrolling in and/or completing college education. Funding for the report was provided by Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based, private foundation that strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access to and success in education beyond high school.