Nation´s College Admission Counselors Urge Education & Workforce Committee to Halt Immigration Hearings, Act on Pressing Education Issues
Nation’s College Admission Counselors Urge Education & Workforce Committee to Halt Immigration Hearings, Act on Pressing Education Issues
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 25 (AScribe Newswire) — Noting the plight of hundreds of thousands of children and young adults who have been effectively excluded from educational opportunity by an inconsistency in federal law and years of state legislative deliberation on the issue, the National Associ tion for College Admission Counseling (NACAC; www.nacacnet.org) urged Congressional leaders to take immediate action to allow states the right to grant in-state tuition for undocumented students who have attended and graduated from public K-12 schools in their states.
“The level of partisan rhetoric in the House of Representatives has reached an unacceptable and unproductive level,” said Joyce Smith, NACAC executive director. “We believe that the debate over state tuition policies with respect to undocumented students who have completed high school in their states should be conducted with expediency and in a manner befitting our highest-ranking elected officials.”
In a letter to key Congressional leaders, the association urged the House to move toward compromise with the Senate on immigration legislation (S 2611) that includes a measure allowing states to provide in-state tuition to qualified undocumented students. A similar legislative remedy has been proposed in the American DREAM Act (HR 5131), sponsored by Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL). While both houses have passed immigration reform legislation, normally resulting in conference procedures, House leaders derailed the normal legislative process in favor of hearings.
“Our association recognizes the legal quandary that prohibits tens of thousands of high school graduates from participating in postsecondary education each year,” stated Jon Westover, chairman of NACAC’s Government Relations Committee and associate dean of admission at University of Massachusetts-Amherst. “Many states, including California and Texas, have acknowledged the economic and political ramifications of allowing this quandary to remain unaddressed, and have enacted common sense solutions to eliminate it. We urge Congress not to discount these states’ perspectives on this important issue.”
“The Supreme Court has said that these children deserve equal protection under the law,” stated Myra Gonzalez, chair of NACAC’s Human Relations Committee and associate director of honors programs at Texas A & M University. “As professionals who work with students interested in college, we know these students have done what it takes to achieve the American dream. Each day that legislative action is not approved results in more students who slip between the cracks.”
About NACAC
NACAC is an Alexandria, VA-based education association of more than 9,200 secondary school counselors, independent counselors, college admission and financial aid officers, enrollment managers, and organizations that work with students as they make the transition from high school to postsecondary education. The association, founded in 1937, is committed to maintaining high standards that foster ethical and social responsibility among those involved in the transition process, as outlined in the NACAC Statement of Principles of Good Practice. More information about NACAC is available at www.nacacnet.org .
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CONTACT: David Hawkins, NACAC Directory of Public Policy, 703-836-2222 x109, dhawkins@nacac.com