It's an open door policy: Undocumented immigrants can now attend community college

The N.C. Board of Community Colleges voted 16 to 1 Friday to once again allow illegal immigrants to attend credit classes.

The decision didn't come as a big surprise to Garrett Hinshaw, president of Catawba Valley Community College. He said the decision is in line with what was recommended by a policy committee.

The decision does not apply to the college's not-for-credit classes, including GED classes, adult basic education, ESL and other continuing education classes that are less than college level. It also does not apply to high school students taking college-level classes.

In May 2008, Attorney General Roy Cooper sent a letter to the school system saying post-secondary education is a benefit undocumented or illegal aliens aren't eligible to receive. The N.C. Community College System asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for further clarification, and were told in July 2008 that the decision to either admit or bar illegal immigrants into colleges and universities is something that must be decided individually by states.

System President Scott Ralls said because illegal immigrants were required to pay out-of-state tuition, the number of undocumented students admitted to community college programs has been very small — less than one-half of 1 percent of enrollment in degree programs.

The N.C. Community College System hired an independent consultant to study other states' policies for admissions of undocumented immigrants, ways to verify a student's legal status, the history of admission policies for undocumented students to the N.C. Community College System and what policies should be developed to address the situation, among other things. The study was paid for by the state board's reserve funds.

The state board of community colleges will require three stipulations of illegal immigrants who come to community colleges: students must be a graduate of a U.S. high school, they must pay out-of-state tuition and they cannot displace a North Carolina or U.S. resident from a class or program.

This last requirement will be a little more difficult to comply with, since registration for classes is done primarily online.

"We have such a small number (of illegal immigrants) who are registered," Hinshaw said. "They will have to wait until everyone else has registered for classes until they can register. The seat will have to go to the legal resident, according to the policy."

CVCC has only two illegal immigrants who attend credit classes. They were grandfathered in, taking classes prior to the change in 2008, and were allowed to complete their degree while the state board of community colleges decided what it wanted to do about illegal immigrants.

Systemwide, there were only 111 illegal immigrants registered for the 2007-08 school year, according to Megen George, director of marketing and external affairs for the N.C. Community Colleges.

Although the state board approved the change Friday to allow illegal immigrants to attend community colleges again, it will still be several months before it takes effect. The policy must go to the administrative rules and be formally adopted, which could take anywhere from six to 12 months, Hinshaw said. Then, the individual community colleges must formally adopt it, as well.

"The board will take it up when we get direction from the state board of community colleges," Hinshaw said. "We may not have a choice in the matter."

He estimates the change likely will not go into effect until the fall 2010 semester.

This spring, community colleges will still abide by the policy currently in place, which only allows the illegal immigrants grandfathered in and paying out-of-state tuition rates. That amounts to $3,850 a semester, or $7,700 a year. In-state students pay $50 per credit hour, for a maximum of $800 a semester.