The admission of undocumented students into American colleges and universities has been the subject of discussion in higher education for several years. Last spring, a small group of Notre Dame faculty and administrators was asked to examine the policies of other Catholic universities, the views of U.S. bishops, federal policy, and this University’s own history. After several months of discussion and reflection, the group recommended the change in policy. Factors that were considered included: • The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, of which Notre Dame is a member, is urging all members to enroll and assist undocumented young people. No demands were made, by any means, but the association’s membership believes the admittance of undocumented students is in keeping with Catholic Social Teaching. • The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been publicly supportive of immigration reform and the Dream Act. In their support of the act, the bishops stated that it would “ensure that children in the United States without legal status, who did not come here by choice, are not punished for their parents’ actions.” • The federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, which was enacted last year by the Department of Homeland Security, grants a stay of deportation to undocumented residents of the U.S. who came here as children and have graduated from high school. Notre Dame will only consider students who meet DACA requirements. • In many ways, Notre Dame is itself a University of immigrants. While the legal circumstances are certainly different, we have a long and proud history of educating the marginalized and least among us. This is a central component of Church teaching and our mission as a Catholic university. As for the financial ramifications of this policy: With any student requiring assistance, undocumented or not, we meet the full demonstrated financial need. More than half of our current students receive scholarship aid from the University (this is not a loan, it’s need-based scholarship money) and of those students, the average award is $30,100, which is well over half the cost of tuition, room and board. Since most of our aid packages also include a federal Pell Grant and federal work study, both of which would be unavailable to an undocumented student, the University would make up the difference, which is about $8,200 annually. In addition, undocumented applicants will be held to the same high standards for admission as any other applicant. This remains, of course, a contentious issue in our society, and we understand that many will not agree with our new approach. But, by considering the views of the bishops and our counterparts in Catholic higher education, while also using the new federal policy as a guide, we believe that this is the right thing to do.
Dennis Brown, University Spokesperson August 25, 2013