Colleges try to help newcomers with tuition

A group of Boston colleges is seeking to establish scholarship funds for undocumented immigrants now in the city's public schools. The scholarships would make up the difference between out-of-state and in-state college tuition, which the students are not eligible to receive under state law.

The colleges plan to tap private donors to fund the scholarships, estimated to be about $5,000 annually per student. The schools say they are left with no choice because a bill before the Legislature that would provide in-state tuition for qualifying undocumented immigrants is not assured of passage.

The proposal for scholarships, which would help a few dozen students in the Boston area, is seen as a slap at Governor Mitt Romney, who has vowed to veto the measure. It is not clear if there are enough votes for an override.

''We are concerned that we are heading into the fall semester without relief," said Bunker Hill Community College president Mary Fifield, who is among those spearheading the effort. ''This is a stopgap measure to help kids who deserve to go to college, go to college."

The scholarship proposal is in its infancy; letters seeking support were expected to reach 31 Boston-based college administrators yesterday. So far, in addition to Bunker Hill Community College, presidents of Lesley University, Massachusetts College of Art, and Cambridge College have indicated interest in moving forward.

While the number of students who would be affected is small for now -- an estimated 30 in Boston-area schools and 400 across the state -- advocates say those ranks are likely to grow exponentially in years to come. The state's immigrant population has risen so dramatically in recent years that now 1 in 7 Massachusetts residents were born in another country. In Boston, that ratio is 1 in 4.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney spokesman, said the administration had no comment on the proposal. Romney, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, has said that the in-state tuition eligibility would give benefits to people who are living in the United States illegally.

''No matter how well-meaning, Governor Romney thinks it's bad public policy to extend state benefits to people who are in the country illegally," Fehrnstrom said. ''It's the position he's always held."

The issue of tuition for undocumented immigrants is among the most heated in immigration policy today. A 1982 US Supreme Court ruling decreed that states must educate illegal immigrants through the 12th grade. But schooling beyond high school remains an open question.

Illegal aliens can qualify for in-state tuition rates in nine states, among them California, Kansas, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas. In Massachusetts, clergy and education leaders rallied last week in support of pending legislation that would provide in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students who have been in Massachusetts at least three years and graduated from a state high school. Romney vetoed a similar measure last year and has vowed to do so again this year.

Bay State residents pay $4,017 for undergraduate tuition at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and out-of-state residents pay $9,383. At Bunker Hill, in-state residents pay $100 per credit; out-of-state students pay $306.

''With this action, the schools are putting some action behind their words," said Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

''But the thing to keep in mind is this doesn't take away the need for Massachusetts to value all hard-working immigrant students and grant them in-state tuition rates," Noorani said.

State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, a cosponsor of the legislation, said, ''It is heartening to see Bunker Hill Community College and other institutions' actions reflect the values they seek to reflect to their students, that all of us who play by the rules should be able to be successful."

He added, ''It is however unfortunate that Bunker Hill has to spend time doing this because of the governor's grandstanding against these children on an issue that seeks to make these children political footballs. They didn't come here illegally; their parents brought them here illegally."

Fehrnstrom dismissed Barrios's comments as ''political gibberish."

The scholarship proposal is part of a multipronged plan put forth by the Boston Higher Education Partnership, a consortium of 31 Boston-based schools including Bunker Hill Community College.

While it is urging its public schools to create scholarships, the partnership is urging its private schools to offer seats in college courses free of charge to undocumented immigrants and to examine policies to ensure they do not unfairly discriminate against undocumented immigrants, even if through some kind of benign neglect.