Some folks are in a fuss over the proposal to provide in-state tuition rates to the kids of illegal immigrants.
Let’s take a look at it. How much did you contribute to the state economy before going to college? You might have been the exceptionally-motivated type who worked your way through college with no debt. If so, good for you (though you might have been better off taking those skills straight to the business world). Or you got the money from someone else, such as Mom And Dad Savings And Loan (if you’re lucky); scholarships (if you’re lucky and motivated); or good, old-fashioned indebtedness (the American way).
If you’re like most kids, though, your earnings contributed exactly diddily-squat. Babysitting money, lawn-cutting money, or minimum-wage slavery will only go so far. Of that, most is paid under the table (which makes you – wait for it – an undocumented worker!) What isn’t paid to you illegally (that is, as a minimum-wage slave) is likely too meager to be taxed, anyway.
The idea is to give these smart, motivated kids – kids who’ve proven themselves but come from poor immigrant families – the chance to pay a not-insane rate for college tuition. It isn’t free, the kid has to apply for citizenship, and above all – she has to prove she is a serious student.
Education is the most effective weapon against poverty. If the state can make it easier for immigrant kids to support themselves, we’re all better off.
They are here illegally…. You are rewarding families that break the law. They are not just immigrants as you say so many times but once in your post, they are illegals.
I know they kids are innocent in this. They were just following thier parents. But you have to be very naive to think that by helping these children you are not going to be incouraging more illegal activity by other families that want to come to the US without following the proper law.
Another fact you claim is that many American kids did not pay taxes before heading off to school. This is probably true, but did the american kids parents pay taxes?? YES. Why should parents of legal american citizens subsidize illegal people to go to school?
Why offer illegals in-state tuition? They are not residents of the state. If I lived in Idaho my whole life and wanted to go to school in North Carolina I couldn’t get in-state tuition because, guess what, I am not a resident of the state!
Another fact you did not touch upon in your post is that of space available at our state institutions. Currently there are waiting lists for in-state students and many of the people that apply do not get accepted. By giving illegals the right to go to school with in-state tuition you will be displacing even more of the hard working legal citizens including naturalized immigrants. The state school will have to allow a certain number of illegals to go to school because of Affirmative Action laws (laws by the way that shouldn’t even apply to a non-citizen but I guess since they have already broken one law why not just pick and choose which laws to obey when it is in thier favor).
With this proposal, immigrant kids would actually have a higher bar than resident kids to qualify for in-state tuition. North Carolina only requires one year of residency for in-state rates, whereas any immigrant kids would need to be here four years.
Guess how much in taxes my parents spent in North Carolina the year before I enrolled in NC State……nothing! Not one red cent.
Guess how much *I* spent … almost nothing! I became a North Carolina resident again when I was in the military, serving in California. So while California benefited from my spending (especially the beer distributors), North Carolina got to tax my paltry military pay for 6-8 months. I probably spent more than that for textbooks each semester.
Unlike some other countries, here kids aren’t guaranteed higher education. They have to earn their place there. That goes for any kid, wherever their background (unless they go to Yale, but I digress). these kids won’t be stealing a seat that a resident might have had – they will have earned it.
If a kid does well in school, and proves they belong in college, I don’t think their background or residency status applies. However, if you’re a lazy native who expects everything to be handed to you on a silver platter, you are not automatically entitled to take up space in a college classroom. Don’t blame the kid who worked rings around you. It’s your fault. Tough, but that’s life.
The reason immigrants come to this country is for a better life. A large majority of them work hard, which improves and enriches North Carolina. They build our houses. They build our roads. And above all, they are building a future here. The reality is that like it or not, the state has come to depend on them.
I think its fair that those who are here for four years, wish to go to college, work hard, and apply for residency get the opportunity to pay tuition just like they were a resident.
I think this fuss is because some people worry that one day we’ll be working for them. You know: the servant class is getting too uppity.