The number of undocumented students attending the University of North Texas has risen by 21 percent over the last five yea
rs, according to an examination of enrollment figures by ethnicity and level.
Last semester there were 2,706 undocumented students enrolled in courses at UNT compared with 2,237 undocumented students in the fall 2015 semester, data in the UNT Factbook indicates.
“Education is not a privilege, it’s a right,” said Marcos Villarreal UNT Latinx Student Service coordinator.
Republican Representatives Jeff Cason and Bryan Slaton have filed Texas HB 1486 to prevent undocumented students from paying in state tuition.
“Representative Cason believes that it is not fair nor right for US citizens of other states to pay more for higher education in Texas than for citizens of other countries who are illegally residing in the US,” Chief of Staff Anthony Reed said.
Senate Bill 1528 has allowed undocumented students access to in state tuition rates since it passed in 2005 during the seventy-ninth Texas Legislature. The bill also allows undocumented students to apply for the Texas Application for Student Financial Aid commonly known as TASFA.
“I think just having TASFA is bare minimum,” said Oscar Silva, an undocumented student. we should be expanding on this, we should have more programs for undocumented students, this shouldn't just be, maybe you'll get financial aid or not and now they want to take that away and that's like, the last thing we have, that's the only thing I have right now.”
If HB 1486 were to be passed undocumented students would be left to pay over twelve thousand dollars more than they currently pay for in state tuition.
“Not only are you cutting students out of their education, you know, it feels really racist,” he said. “That's what it feels like, because it's just like you're targeting a group of minorities, and you're stripping them of their educational rights,” Silva said.
UNT Professor of Anthropology Mariela Nunez-Janes said the senate bill has been threatened many times with bills similar to the one presented by Representatives Cason and Slaton.
According to the 2020 report for the Presidents ‘Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration the additional students who could potentially enroll and complete college as a result of expanded access would earn millions of dollars in additional income- translating into meaningful economic benefits for all Americans.
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