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.
I'd love to finish this sentence, but I'd probably be arrested because of it...
Am I missing something here?
Ah, I get it: They Can Afford To Pay More Syndrome.
No, we DON'T think Hispanics can't do it - too much evidence to the contrary. What we DO think, is that Hispanics here ILLEGAL shouldn't be ABLE to do it... big difference...
Oh, it's a "process" now, is it? One illegally enters our country and then has the total audacity to b*tch that they're not getting financial aid?! Unbelievable. I ask, instead, why the f*cking INS is not knocking on their doors RIGHT NOW!? I know what it takes to become a citizen (I did it), and, yes, it's a long, expensive process. But, it's worth it. But when I see crap like this, it makes me wonder why I did it at all. Not because I doubt my country; rather, just some of the idiots within it...
I have taught on the college level for more than 20 years and have worked with scholarships for about a dozen years. In my experience, foreign students (actually it's usually the students' governments) pay full freight, and then some, at U.S. universities and colleges. They are a money maker for higher education rather than a loss leader, which is (in my estimation) the single biggest reason why universities and colleges seek them so assiduously. They definitely don't "soak up our education dollars".
Try becoming a LEGAL citizen first you twits, then the doors might open up to you. They get this unbridled arrogance from the liberal mentality that pervades America today. Personally, I think they should ship them both back to Mexico.
How about putting American students first?
This is like a bank robber bitching because the bank didn't give him the Bank President's personal limo as a getaway car.
It takse hudzpah to steal from the American people for all of these years then lay claim to an addition $35K/yr just because they have a well developed sense of entitlement. Tell them to take their transcripts back to Mexico and impress the college entrance boards there.
The liberal media presents this so called "unfairness" as a burden to be overcome buy the evil United States. BARF
But, but I thought all the illegals were in California?
For those that lack a funny bone.....(Sarcasm)
Unless things have changed, it's pretty much always been this way. Those who claim you as a dependant cannot make above a certain level for you to claim student aid. I don't know if that's the same thing as what you describe, however.
It must really p_________ you off big time to read this kind of stuff.
Yes, this kind of nonsense drives me up the proverbial wall. Not just because I immigrated legally, but because no one screams bloodly murder when such BS comes to light. "Oh, they just want a better education!" Well, give me a break, but who the hell doesn't!?
It never ceases to amaze me just how far people will go to foster their agenda, even to the point of deceiving others to "prove" their little ideals. For the record, sir, these are not "foreign students", (which infers foreign exchange students or foreignors with student visas). These are
I sympatize with you. You were not one of those, evidently, that Clinton rushed and swore in before his election.
I do so admire those who are here legally. I have no feelings nor an obligation to aliens.
Methinks, President Bush should take heed of our conserns. But, perhaps he has already.
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