Graduate School Accessibility for Undocumented and DACAmented Scholars Across the United States

Journal of College Access Volume 10 Issue 4 Article 5 10-30-2025 Graduate School Accessibility for Undocumented and DACAmented Scholars Across the United States Casandra P. Sandoval Hurtado University of Michigan, Ronnie Rios Kasandra Negrete University of Michigan Stephany Mendez Ortega Richard Nunn University of Michigan, Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca Part of the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Sandoval Hurtado, Casandra P.; Rios, Ronnie; Negrete, Kasandra; Mendez Ortega, Stephany; and Nunn, Richard (2025) "Graduate School Accessibility for Undocumented and DACAmented Scholars Across the United States," Journal of College Access: Vol. 10: Iss. 4, Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol10/iss4/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Michigan University at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of College Access by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact . Graduate School Accessibility for Undocumented and DACAmented Scholars Across the United States Cover Page Footnote Author summary Casandra P Sandoval Hurtado is a PhD candidate in the Program in Chemical Biology at the University of Michigan. Ronnie Rios graduated with a PhD in Higher Education in 2024 from the University of Michigan. Kasandra Negrete is an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Stephany Mendez Ortega graduated with a Masters in Health Services Administration from the University of Michigan. Richard Nunn is a senior program leader and outreach coordinator for PACE (Partnerships For Access, Community, and Excellence). Additional graduate and undergraduate student staff contributed to the data collection of this study. This research was supported by the University of Michigan PACE team which is led by Cherie Dotson. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard Nunn, Email: . This article is available in Journal of College Access: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol10/iss4/5 Graduate School Accessibility for Undocumented and DACAmented Scholars Across the United States Authored by Casandra P. Sandoval Hurtado (University of Michigan) Ronnie Rios (University of Michigan) Kasandra Negrete (University of Michigan) Stephany Mendez Ortega (University of Michigan) Richard Nunn (University of Michigan) Introduction ABSTRACT B Literature on higher educa on accessibility for undocumented and DACAmented (Deferred Ac on for Childhood Arrivals) students has mostly focused on undergraduate students. This paper discusses a comprehensive study of the undocumented graduate student policies of 50 universi es across the United States. Using systema c web searches and follow-up interviews with ins tu onal liaisons, we evaluated admissions, tui on classifica on, funding, and social support prac ces through an ins tu onal theory lens. This theory posits that ins tu ons priori ze alignment with other ins tu ons, which can lead to a lack of ac on in providing systemic services. Our findings are consistent with ins tu onal theory, as many webpages were o en confusing or missing cri cal informa on—par cularly about funding—that is essen al to undocumented student success. In addi on, we assessed pa erns of accessibility among Associa on of American Universi es (AAU) members and California ins tu ons, where we found notably higher levels of support compared to non-members. Our results echo the individual tes monies of undocumented graduate students (undocugrads) from previous literature, contribute nuanced perspec ves to extant literature, and provide recommenda ons for prac ce and future research. As undocumented students con nue to navigate the everchanging and o en mes exclusionary policies in the United States, we must con nue to ques on higher educa on policies to improve the condi ons undocumented students face when naviga ng graduate school. ased on a 2023 report from the Presidents’ Alliance, only 10% percent of the more than 400,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education are graduate students. Of the 44,000 undocumented graduate students, 23,000 have DACA (Presidents' Alliance, 2023). These statistics point to the significant struggle that many undocumented individuals face in pursuing education and navigating academia. The Supreme Court decision, Plyler v. Doe, allowed children to attend free K-12 public schools regardless of their citizenship status and prevented states from denying such education (Peña, 2021). The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Act made funding, admissions, and tuition policies dependent on the state (Vasquez et al., 2021), which can remove the agency undocumented students have over their own educational goals depending on where they live. Keywords: undocumented, DACA, graduate school, policies, accessibility Volume 10 | October 2025 | Issue 4 The implementation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) allowed for a path toward higher education for certain 53 Graduate school accessibility for undocumented scholars Now, in the current political climate that threatens the very presence of immigrants in our country, the need to ensure educational access, safety, and the transformative power of education is more important than ever. undocumented people. DACA was passed through the executive order of President Obama in 2012 and allowed children brought to the U.S. without authorization to receive a work permit, a social security number, and conditional exemption from deportation if they met the program’s highly stringent application requirements (DHS, 2012). The authorization of DACA allowed students to better access higher education through employment opportunities such as graduate assistantship appointments. However, DACAmented students (students with DACA status) remain ineligible for federal aid funding (Marigal Lara, 2018). In addition, DACA continues to be restrictive, with no new applications being accepted today (USCIS, 2023). Because the benefits of DACA do not extend to fully undocumented students, they face greater challenges in their pursuit of higher education. Literature Review In the current study, we focus on the educational policies that affect undocumented and DACAmented people. Though previous studies have explored how policies shape higher education for undocumented students, these studies focused on supporting undocumented undergraduates, leaving a research gap for undocumented graduate students or undocugrads (Vasquez et al., 2021; Luedke & Corral, 2023; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2015; Teranishi, Suárez-Orozco, & Suárez-Orozco, 2015). Literature on undocumented graduate students is focused on testimonios and personal narratives that document the individual stories of undocugrads (Bazo Vienrich, 2019; Montiel, Valenzuela Ramirez, & Perez, 2020; Molina Ortega, 2021; Chung, 2022). These stories offered valuable insight into the (...truncated)