Legislation co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs to create a New York State DREAM Act (A.2597) that provides undocumented New Yorkers the ability to afford a college education was passed in Assembly yesterday.
“As a co-sponsor of the New York State Dream Act and a member of the Task Force on New Americans, I am pleased the Assembly passed this historic bill for the second straight year,” Assemblywoman Jacobs said. “I am proud we have taken one step closer in giving undocumented students the same educational opportunities as everyone else,” Jacobs said. “I urge the Senate to pass this bill because Governor Cuomo has already said he would sign it into law if it reached his desk.”
“This will help young people reach the American Dream by affording a college education,” Jacobs said. “It not only ends discrimination, it will give future leaders in business, health, education, government, you name it, the chance to realize their potential and someday actively enhance not only their own lives but the lives of all of us.”
The legislation requires undocumented immigrant students to satisfy certain conditions to be eligible for state tuition assistance and educational opportunity programs, including having attended high school in New York State for at least two years and having graduated or received a high school equivalency diploma in-state. Since 2002, undocumented immigrants have been paying in-state tuition rates at SUNY and CUNY colleges and universities. The DREAM Act goes a step further by increasing access for undocumented youth to a broad range of state educational assistance programs, including:
- Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP);
- Educational Opportunity Program (EOP);
- Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (C-STEP); and
- Opportunity programs available at community colleges.
“Providing our immigrant youth with the same opportunities to realize the American Dream as so many others before them had is not only the right thing to do but it makes sense economically because we are making an investment in future taxpayers,” Jacobs said. “This legislation is smart and progressive and will pay great dividends to our society for years to come.
In addition to increasing access to state aid, the DREAM Act sets up the DREAM Fund, an initiative that would raise private funds to provide scholarships for eligible college-bound children with at least one immigrant parent. The DREAM Act would also expand access to the New York State College Tuition Savings (529) Program through family tuition accounts. The family tuition accounts would be available to anyone who provides a valid taxpayer identification number, and would significantly help families save for their children’s future over an extended period of time, noted Jacobs.
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Assemblywoman Rhoda S. Jacobs represents the 42nd Assembly District, which includes sections of the Flatbush, Flatbush Gardens, Midwood, and Victorian Flatbush neighborhoods of Brooklyn. She serves in the leadership as the Assistant Speaker, and on the Rules, Ways & Means, Health and Insurance Committees as well as the Task Force on Women’s Issues and the Task Force on New Americans.