Non-U.S. citizens could receive state funded grants through a state house bill officially sponsored by the Associated Students on Feb. 3.

The bill will not have a chance of being passed until 2011, but if passed it will open the door to students who are not U.S. citizens to access the State Need Grant.

Morgan Holmgren, Associated Students Vice President of Legislative and Governmental Affairs, said the house bill is symbolic of the values held by the Associated Students.

Director of Financial Aid Clara Capron wrote in an e-mail the State Need Grant is for students who are part of an income-specific group, usually consisting of students unable to pay full tuition. Students are eligible for the State Need Grant by submitting an approved Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Students who are not U.S citizens are presently unable to fill out a FAFSA, she said.

Capron said students without U.S. citizenship risk deportation if they fill out a FAFSA because it would indicate they are ineligible to live in the U.S.

Holmgren said supporting the bill shows the willingness and commitment of the Associated Students to expand access to higher education.

He said students without U.S. citizenship who seek higher education would benefit from access to the State Need Grant.

Holmgren said the legislature has opposed to the bill because it would expand a citizen-funded program to non-citizens.

Ricardo Sánchez, director of the Latino/a Educational Achievement Project, said students without U.S. citizenship would be added to eligibility to receive the grant, but this would create competition between students who are U.S. citizens and those who are not.

Sánchez said the grant is the best option for students without U.S. citizenship because applying for loans or scholarships is not an understood option.

“Middle-income students get squeezed hard because they don’t qualify for need grant funds or have stellar grades,” Sánchez said. “We need to make higher education the state’s top investing priority.”

Sánchez said families—regardless of U.S. citizenship—living in Washington pay taxes that support the State Need Grant. 

An analysis paper on the bill reviewed conditions students without U.S. citizenship need to fall under.

These include receiving a diploma from a public or approved private high school, having lived in Washington for three years immediately prior to receiving the diploma and applying for permanent residency at the earliest opportunity.

Sánchez said the bill would work well with a previously established bill, which allows students without U.S. citizenship to pay in-state tuition.

The proposed DREAM Act would give students without U.S. citizenship temporary legal residency, according to the Latino/a Achievement Web site.

“It’s not the role of the state or institutions of higher education to be enforcing immigration law,” Holmgren said.

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