Support the DREAM Act
Support access to college for all Arkansas students
The DREAM Act does two things:
- Allows undocumented students to use their money to pay tuition at the in-state rate
- Requires them to sign an affidavit declaring their intention to legalize their immigration status.
It does NOT provide scholarships or affect Arkansas citizens’ ability to attend college.
Eleven other states, including Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas already have similar laws.
Why the DREAM Act is good for Arkansas:
- The Supreme Court ruled that public school education is mandatory for undocumented students. To deny them reasonable access to higher education amounts to flushing years of financial and social investment down the drain.
- We are missing opportunities to grow economically and be competitive by denying these students affordable access to college. We must create a strong, educated workforce and not a permanent underclass cut off from opportunity.
- Such an educational investment pays dividends for Arkansas by reducing the dropout rate, leading to substantial savings in criminal justice costs and the use of public benefits by a better educated community.
About those affected by the DREAM Act:
- Students who would benefit from this are in Arkansas because of decisions made by their parents/guardians and have been here most or all of their lives. These children have no more control over their parents’ actions than we did as children.
- Arkansas is home to these children, but because of their status, they will pay 2-3 times the tuition rate of other students. Shouldn’t we give them the chance to develop into productive citizens that can have a meaningful impact on our state’s future?
- These children have worked hard throughout Arkansas’s public school system and consider themselves Arkansans.
Support the DREAM Act – give all Arkansas’ children
the opportunity to invest in a better future.
