Posted on 07/28/2003 8:24:37 PM PDT by new cruelty
Diana Mora, 18, of Chicago, would love to attend Northwestern because it's a "really great school'' with "really good prestige.'' Martha, 20, of Chicago, earned high grades at Roosevelt High School in hopes of attending the elite university in Evanston.
But even though both graduated at the top of their respective classes and both were accepted for admission at NU, neither can attend.
That's because as illegal immigrants from Mexico, they are not eligible for financial aid--either from the government or Northwestern. At $37,338 for a year of tuition and room and board, they said not getting aid is just like not getting accepted at all--there is no way they can afford to go.
"We should have the opportunity to be able to go to the top universities,'' said Martha, who asked that her full name not be used. "A lot of people think Hispanics can't do it. We can do it. We just don't have the resources. I don't think it's fair."
But an Uptown-based community group is hoping to change that. The Organization of the NorthEast is lobbying a handful of local private universities to do more to help illegal students attend their campuses.
Emboldened by the passage of a recent law allowing illegal, longtime Illinois residents who graduate from state high schools to pay in-state tuition, they say there is nothing stopping schools like Northwestern from providing their own funds to help the students. Under current law, the students are ineligible for federal or state aid.
In response to the group's effort, Loyola University created a task force to recommend ways to assist illegal students, although the school has not committed to any action.
If Northwestern--one of the nation's top schools--took action, it "could set a trend'' for other private schools, said Joyce Ramirez-Knight, co-chair of the immigration strategy team for the organization.
But Northwestern has rejected calls to change its policy of only offering aid to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
NU officials say the school only offers full scholarships to athletes. All other aid is need-based, and is typically a combination of federal and state money in addition to aid directly from Northwestern.
Because NU would have to provide all the funds itself, providing aid to illegal students would drain NU's $51 million aid budget more quickly than giving aid to low-income students who are legal residents, NU officials said.
Such aid "is much more expensive and deprives others of resources,'' NU President Henry Bienen said in a letter to the group late last month. Bienen also said there could be legal problems with "selectively limiting assistance to any particular group of noncitizens.''
Bienen was unavailable for comment Friday, but NU spokesman Al Cubbage said the school doesn't see how it could offer scholarships to Mexican citizens who live in the Chicago area over Mexican citizens who live in Mexico.
But Ramirez-Knight ridiculed the school's assertion that the aid was too costly, considering the school's $3.3 billion endowment was the 15th largest in the country in 2002.
She also said there is a difference between students like Mora and Martha and international students who have no plans to stay in the States. The women have lived here for years, their families are here and they attended local elementary and high schools. They are simply caught in the process of trying to become citizens, which can take between seven and 21 years.
"They know no other country,'' she said.
Thank you. No, I was not, although I was naturalized in 1993. Under "his" watch but the process was begun long before that (which is how long it takes done legally).
I have no feelings nor an obligation to aliens
Did you leave out illegal aliens? I was a legal alien for almost 15 years before I became a citizen.
My point was that foreign students pay their own way and do NOT represent a drain on U.S. tax dollars as illegal aliens would if they were given scholarships large enough to get them through a pricey Univ. like Northwestern. I was NOT mixing up foreign students with illegal alien students, but distinguishing between the two.
What a cry baby. I went to 8 years of college. We didn't have the resources but I worked, my parents worked, my grandparents worked because we all knew education was important. It's not a hand out situation. My family invested in me and it was my job to make them proud and later take care of them.
It's a generational thing. You just don't work for your future. You work for those who may follow and those who have come before you. It's the right thing to do. It's sooo simple.
This women is so selfish.
What is this rampant disease going on in America?
If people are here illegally - then they've broken the law. There's no quibbling about getting Driver's licenses, or University admissions, or this special privilege, or that one.
If people want to make a case for changing the immigration laws to allow more people of this kind, or the other, immigrate - then make the case...and change the law. But don't reward people for breaking the law. This is insane.
When did the USA decide not to be a nation, and who are these 5th columnists who want to encourage this lawlessness?.... madness...
Oh, I see. Thanks for the info. Well, come on now. They can afford to pay more, can't they? And, besides, they only got to be SO wealthy because they stood on the shoulders of the little people to get to the top. They should be required to give something back to the proletar.. I mean "the people."
Colleges now employ 'strategy teams' to help aid and abet illegal invaders? Is this practice legal?
The liberal academia in this country seemingly is working overtime to subvert and destroy America from within.
Is the meter running? Naah -- not as long as ALL politicians from both sides of the aisle are selling out America while pandering for votes.
Bull.
I want to know how they were able to attend high school in the US for 4 years.
Doesn't this p!$$ off all the immigrants who are here legally and went the extra mile to become legal citizens?
I'm from a galaxy far, far away... :-)
Family immigrated on a two year work visa in 1978 and came to the realization that this country is the closest thing to perfection on earth. Thankfully, we legally stayed, got our permanent residency and all became citiizens.
I'm sorry for getting all fired up; this subject just hits rather close to home and I have ZERO tolerance for these criminals.
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