A giant a part of Elizabeth Home’s job is encouraging college students to fill out the Free Utility for Federal Pupil Assist, or FAFSA.
The FAFSA is the important thing to assist for monetary help resembling Pell Grants and federally backed loans, however dad and mom should present their Social Safety numbers or fill out 9 zeros if they don’t have one.
For college students who’ve members of the family with out the correct immigration paperwork, filling out the shape has lengthy been seen as a dangerous manner to attract consideration to their household’s standing. Home, nevertheless, urges college students to take that step and fill out the FAFSA anyway.
“We encourage them to not cease your future plans as a result of you may have a worry as a result of being undocumented,” stated Home, who’s the director of faculty counseling companies with Greenville County Faculties in South Carolina.
However this fall, some school advising teams are reluctantly taking a unique stance. With President-elect Donald Trump saying he desires to deport thousands and thousands of immigrants within the nation illegally and finish birthright citizenship, they’re cautioning college students filling out the shape for the primary time to assume twice earlier than doing so if they’ve members of the family who don’t have correct documentation.
In November, the Nationwide Faculty Attainment Community, or NCAN, shared unprecedented steering cautioning college students with members of the family whose immigration standing is questionable about filling out the federal monetary help software. The assertion stated it couldn’t assure the information college students and oldsters submit on the FAFSA would proceed to be protected in mild of the incoming administration’s public statements and priorities.
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“Though the Larger Schooling Act prohibits the usage of information for any goal apart from figuring out and awarding federal monetary help, at the moment NCAN can not guarantee mixed-status college students and households that information submitted to the U.S. Division of Schooling, as a part of the FAFSA course of, will proceed to be protected,” the group stated in its steering.
Counselors like Home are apprehensive these messages will undermine the belief faculties have constructed with immigrant households to get college students into school.
“Even one scholar not filling it out is a unfavourable affect,” she stated.
College students who aren’t approved to be within the nation aren’t eligible for federal help, however the FAFSA is extensively used as a pathway for different kinds of scholarships. Highschool counselors and school advisers have inspired these college students to fill out the shape, as a result of some faculties provide scholarships no matter citizenship standing.
FAFSA information is protected beneath the Larger Schooling Act and the Privateness Act of 1974. There isn’t any settlement permitting information collected on the monetary help type for use for immigration enforcement. In a press name Thursday to reply questions in regards to the rollout of this yr’s on-line FAFSA, administration officers with the Schooling Division stated President Joe Biden has prioritized defending scholar and household privateness.
“We are able to’t communicate for future policymakers, and college students and households ought to take into account this data and make the selections which are proper for them,” a senior Schooling Division official stated.
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Some teams are sharing NCAN’s message with counselors or straight with college students, resembling Matriculate, a corporation primarily based in New York that pairs excessive attaining and low-income college students with undergraduate mentors to assist information them to varsity.
“It’s data that we imagine our college students must have entry to,” stated Bryan Contreras, managing director of program, partnerships and progress at Matriculate.
Others are providing completely different recommendation. ImmSchools, a Dallas-based nonprofit that works with faculties to enhance outcomes for immigrant college students, is encouraging college students to fill out the paper model of the FAFSA type as a substitute of the net software. Within the paper model, college students do not need to straight reply a sure or no query on whether or not they have a Social Safety quantity, although they do nonetheless need to put one thing within the house for the precise quantity.
“Fears are heightened and with good motive,” stated Astou Thiane, director of coverage at ImmSchools. “You’ve got an administration that has been on the document saying they may pursue a coverage of mass deportations towards undocumented and immigrant communities. I believe that may have far-reaching results on immigrant individuals, interval.”
Trump has been constant in his intent to hold out mass deportations, however he’s despatched combined messages on what these plans entail. He has stated he would work with Democrats on an answer permitting “Dreamers” — college students dropped at america illegally once they have been younger — to remain within the nation. However incoming administration officers have additionally stated one choice to keep away from breaking apart households with a mixture of residents and other people not approved to be within the nation is to deport everybody “collectively.”
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The Nationwide Affiliation for Faculty Admission Counseling, or NACAC, whose 28,000 members embrace highschool counselors and school advisers, is weighing the dangers. Considerations over filling out the FAFSA aren’t new to college students and households with questionable immigration standing, stated David Hawkins, chief training and coverage officer with NACAC, however the mass deportation threats have intensified fears that immigration enforcement will discover a manner to make use of FAFSA information, regardless that it’s presupposed to be protected.
“We are able to’t assure that the long run administration may or may not use this data, however we don’t need to stoke fears when there isn’t something but on the desk that will recommend that this data might be used for something apart from monetary help,” Hawkins stated.
In the end, Home believes warning college students towards filling out the FAFSA will do extra hurt than good. The varsity counselors in Greenville are going to proceed advising college students to fill it out, no matter their citizenship standing, and join them to varsities with scholarships they could qualify for.
“We’d love for each group to be encouraging and useful — to assist us discover sources for all of our college students,” Home stated.
Contact employees author Ariel Gilreath at 212-678-3639 or gilreath@hechingerreport.org.
This story about FAFSA assist was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, impartial information group centered on inequality and innovation in training. Join the Hechinger Ok-12 e-newsletter.