Opinion: Chancellor Folt should stand with her students in need of financial aid

Since 2013, the One State, One Rate campaign has seen hundreds of signatures gathered and dozens of undocumented students courageously step forward, yet one notable voice has remained silent on the campaign’s issues — Chancellor Carol Folt’s.

The campaign advocates for in-state tuition rates for undocumented or noncitizen residents of North Carolina. It has garnered support from students, faculty and principal members of the Chapel Hill community. However, the leader of our flagship university has not spoken up about the issue.

Folt ought to show support for UNC’s undocumented North Carolinians to create a campus which is truly affordable for all.

At the August National Press Club luncheon, Folt boasted about the affordability of UNC, but what does it mean if some of our state’s most vulnerable residents are subjected to prices usually reserved for out-of-state students?

As stated in the UNC Policy Manual, undocumented students who are admitted to UNC are classified as out-of-state residents and are counted in the 18 percent cap on out-of-state admitted students.

Currently, they are forced to pay out of pocket the entire $50,360 annually without any financial aid because they are barred from receiving it.

This makes higher education cost-prohibitive for undocumented students because unlike their documented peers who can turn to federal and state aid, they must remain nonexistent in the eyes of the state. Self-sufficiency is often the only option left. And thus, some are forced to rack up part-time jobs in order to pay for an education they rightfully earned when they were accepted to this University.

According to the UNC School of Law, there are about 400,000 undocumented residents in North Carolina. They often do not reveal their status in fear of legal ramifications, but that did not stop Emilio Vicente, a recent graduate who was undocumented, from stepping up and spearheading the One State, One Rate campaign back in 2013. While Vicente found ways to pay for his education and graduate, his reality is a fantasy for most undocumented students and will continue to be a fantasy until change occurs.

The absence of a Social Security number prevents undocumented residents from obtaining a driver’s license or applying for college. Fortunately, under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, some can qualify for deferred action from deportation and apply for a Social Security number. Those nine digits are the difference between being identified as an “illegal alien” or a rightful resident of a state where they lived almost their entire lives. Those missing nine digits stack the odds against them because although they may graduate high school with enough qualifications and dreams to propel their determination, there is nowhere to land.

Although the landmark case of Plyler v. Doe guaranteed access to K-12 education for all children, undocumented and documented, the constitutional right for higher education does not exist. If we went to the same schools before, why not now?

Despite the headway made by introducing two tuition equity bills, both have not made progress. Additionally, in 2014, the Office of the Attorney General of North Carolina issued a letter stating undocumented individuals, despite having DACA status, are still ineligible for in-state tuition according to the law.

In spite of these legal obstacles, the fight to allow undocumented North Carolinians to pay in-state tuition should not let up.

For every year Folt remains silent, many students are denied an education, which leads to denying them a pathway to success.

UNC prides itself as the “University of the people,” but if the school refuses to fight for undocumented students because of political barriers, then affordability and accessibility cannot be touted as our core values.