Documenting Attitudes toward Undocumented Immigrant Access to Public Education: A Multilevel Analysis

Abstract

This study investigates how students' views toward undocumented immigrants' access to public education change during college. A multilevel analysis among a national sample of 12,388 undergraduates, drawn from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's (CIRP) Freshman Survey and College Senior Survey, revealed that significant predictors of senior-year views include various student characteristics and predispositions, political contexts, college experiences, and institutional contexts. Given the often-hostile debates over undocumented immigrants' participation in American education, the findings have broad implications for college access, campus climate, and the way institutions of higher education think about their role in shaping students' understanding of this compelling issue.

Layers of Influence: Exploring Institutional- and State-Level Effects on College Student Views Toward Access to Public Education for Undocumented Immigrants

“…Individual predisposition and views are also significant predictors of immigration attitudes, such as political orientation (Chandler andTsai 2001, Fennelly andFederico 2008;Scheve and Slaughter 2001), meritocratic ideologies (Parks-Yancy et al 2009), and economic concerns (Fennelly and Federico 2008;Scheve and Slaughter 2001). Individual experiences including cross-racial interactions have been shown to impact attitudes toward immigrant educational access (Herrera et al, 2013). Beyond the individual-level factors and toward understanding the multiple layers of contexts, emerging research points to three important contextual considerations-demographic, economic, and political.…”

“…as individual economic concerns have been shown to affect immigration attitudes (Fennelly and Federico 2008;Scheve and Slaughter 2001). Whether the student was a business major is also accounted for in the model as business majors have been shown to have more restrictive attitudes toward undocumented immigrant access to public education (Herrera et al 2013). Potential intergroup contact in college is measured by two CIRP constructs: positive cross-racial interactions and negative cross-racial interactions.…”

“…Given their roles in the voter base, the employment market, residential selection, as well as the college campus itself, an examination of how political, economic, and demographic contexts affect US citizen college students' attitudes towards undocumented immigrant educational access is particularly important, especially since national opinion polling may not capture the college contexts or individuals of interest to higher education researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. One study by Herrera et al (2013) identified the individual characteristics and college experiences that influence student views toward undocumented immigrants' access to education; however, they did not examine dynamic state political, economic, and demographic contexts, which higher education institutions and their students are immersed in.…”

Immigrant Identity and Experiences in U.S. Higher Education Research: A Systematic Review

“…Conversely, the second theme focuses on how microsystems around immigrants can lack resources or, due to being immigrants, students are unable to access necessary resources. For example, undocumented students' lack of financial resources for college ties to U.S. public policy and students' inability to qualify for federal financial aid (Flores, 2009;Flores & Horn, 2010;Herrera et al, 2013;Nienhusser, 2014). Each of these themes connects to scholars focusing on low-income, first generation to college, and/or undocumented immigrant populations within their studies, in which broader social stratification and structural inequalities in the U.S. can negatively impact the educational experiences of these students.…”

“…Immigrant students' engagement in various forms of activism on campuses yielded two different outcomes in connection with peer relationships (Deangelo et al, 2016). In one of the few articles focused on peers, Herrera et al (2013) found that undocumented immigrant students face prejudice from their U.S. citizen peers on campus due to their immigration status. In contrast, Nuñez (2009) found that Latino students who are actively engaged in campus life have a higher sense of exclusion because they develop a sense of consciousness that raises their awareness about racial issues that exist on campus and in society at large.…”