Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-3-2022
Publication Title
AERA Open
Volume
8
Issue
1
First page number:
1
Last page number:
17
Abstract
Some states have enacted inclusive policies that reduce constraints and uncertainty for undocumented students, potentially changing their academic decisions and postsecondary goals. We explore shifts in continuing undocumented community college students’ course-taking before and after the California DREAM Act, which provided access to state financial aid. We use difference-in-differences comparisons with permanent residents, refugees, and U.S. citizens who were unaffected by these policies to examine policy impacts. After its implementation, continuing students increased their enrollment intensity, primarily in degree-applicable and transferable courses, and decreased coursework in career/technical education. This suggests state financial aid may have broadened postsecondary possibilities and made transfer to a 4-year institution a more viable option for undocumented students. At the same time, access to aid did not increase undocumented students’ credit loads to the level of their peers, underscoring the reality that other constraints continue to shape undocumented students’ participation in higher education.
Keywords
Undocumented students; Community college; Financial aid; Education policy; Difference-in-differences
Disciplines
Other Education
File Size
893.6 KB
Language
English
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Repository Citation
Ngo, F.,
Hinojosa, J. K.
(2022).
Broadened Possibilities: Undocumented Community College Student Course Enrollment After the California DREAM Act.
AERA Open, 8(1),
1-17.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/23328584221091276