State-Based Policy Supports for Refugee, Asylee, and TPS-Background Students in US Higher Education

Authors

  • Lisa Unangst Gladys W. & David H. Patton College of Education, Ohio University
  • Ishara Casellas Connors Texas A&M University, Washington, D.C.
  • Nicole Barone Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40819

Keywords:

critical policy analysis, post-secondary education, migration, displacement, tuition, college access

Abstract

Higher education for displaced students is rarely the focus of academic literature in the context of the United States, despite 79.5 million people displaced worldwide as of December 2019 and 3 million refugees resettled in the United States since the 1970s (UNHCR, 2020). An estimated 95,000 Afghans will be resettled in the US by September 2022, and the executive branch has requested $6.4 billion in funds from Congress to support this resettlement process (Young, 2021). This represents the most concentrated resettlement in the US since the end of the Vietnam War. It is therefore clear that policy supports for displaced students represent a pressing educational equity issue. This paper applies critical policy analysis to state-level policies supporting displaced students and argues that both data gaps and policy silence characterize the current state of play.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Lisa Unangst, Gladys W. & David H. Patton College of Education, Ohio University

Lisa Unangst is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Gladys W. & David H. Patton College of Education, Ohio University. She can be reached at lisau@ohio.edu.

Ishara Casellas Connors, Texas A&M University, Washington, D.C.

Ishara Casellas Connors is an Assistant Professor of Public Service and Administration at the Bush School for Government and Public Administration, Texas A&M University. She can be reached at icasellasconnors@tamu.edu.

Nicole Barone, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University

Nicole Barone is the Manager of Part-Time Master's Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She can be reached at nicole_barone@gse.harvard.edu.

References

Allan, E. J. (2009). Feminist poststructuralism meets policy analysis: An overview. In E. J. Allan, S. Van Deventer Iverson, & R. Ropers-Huilman (Eds.), Reconstructing policy in higher education: Feminist poststructural perspectives (pp. 11–36). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203870037

Bahar, D. (2018, June 19). Why accepting refugees is a win–win–win formula. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/06/19/refugees-are-a-win-win-win-formula-for-economic-development/

Baker, S., Ramsay, G., Irwin, E., & Miles, L. (2018). “Hot,” “cold” and “warm” supports: Towards theorising where refugee students go for assistance at university. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1332028

Bhabha, J. (2002). Internationalist gatekeepers?: The tension between asylum advocacy and human rights. Harvard Human Rights Journal, 15(155), 1–22.

Bhopal, K., & Pitkin, C. (2020). “Same old story, just a different policy”: Race and policy making in higher education in the UK. Race Ethnicity and Education, 23(4), 530–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2020.1718082

Blizzard, B., & Batalova, J. (2019, June 13). Refugees and asylees in the United States. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/refugees-and-asylees-united-states#Top_Refugee-Receiving_States

Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). What we were, what we are, and what we should be: The racial problem of American sociology. Social Problems, 64(2), 179–187. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spx006

Brett, M. (2014). Equity policy and knowledge in Australian higher education. In T. Fitzgerald (Ed.), Advancing knowledge in higher education: Universities in turbulent times (pp. 44–64). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-6202-5.ch004

Brown, A., & Scribner, T. (2014). Unfulfilled promises, future possibilities: The refugee resettlement system in the United States. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 2(2), 101–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/233150241400200203

Carlson, A. (2013). State tuition, fees, and financial assistance policies for public colleges and universities, 2012–2013. State Higher Education Executive Officers. https://sheeo.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tuition-and-Fees-Policy-Report-2013.pdf

Catholic Legal Immigration Network. (2019, January 7). Temporary protected status: Comprehensive backgrounder. https://cliniclegal.org/resources/humanitarian-relief/temporary-protected-status-comprehensive-backgrounder

Cerney, J. (2019, April 9). From refugee camp to BSN student: Anna’s story. Nebraska Methodist College Blog. https://blog.methodistcollege.edu/from-refugee-camp-to-bsn-student

Chase, M. M., Dowd, A. C., Pazich, L. B., & Bensimon, E. M. (2014). Transfer equity for “minoritized” students: A critical policy analysis of seven states. Educational Policy, 28(5), 669–717. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904812468227

De Angelo, L., Schuster, M. T., & Stebleton, M. J. (2016). California DREAMers: Activism, identity, and empowerment among undocumented college students. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 216–230. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000023

de Wit, H., Leal, F., & Unangst, L. (2020). Internationalization aimed at global social justice: Brazilian university initiativies to integrate refugees and displaced populations. Educação Temática Digital—Unicamp, 22(3), 567–590. https://doi.org/10.20396/etd.v22i3.8659331

Dunwoodie, K., Kaukko, M., Wilkinson, J., Reimer, K., & Webb, S. (2020). Widening university access for students of asylum-seeking backgrounds: (Mis)recognition in an Australian context. Higher Education Policy, 33, 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-019-00176-8

Ergin, H. (2020). Questioning the ethics and rationale of refugee research. In L. Unangst, H. Ergin, A. Khajarian, T. Delaquil, & H. de Wit (Eds.), Refugees and higher education: Transnational perspectives on access, equity and internationalization (pp. 20–31). Brill-Sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435841

Ergin, H., de Wit, H., & Leask, B. (2019). Forced internationalization of higher education: An emerging phenomenon. International Higher Education, 97, 9–10. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2019.97.10939

European Commission, EACEA, & Eurydice. (2019, February 7). Integrating asylum seekers and refugees into higher education in Europe: National policies and measures, Eurydice report. Publications Office of the European Union. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-policies/eurydice/content/integrating-asylum-seekers-and-refugees-higher-education-europe-national-policies-and_en

Feagin, J. R., & Cobas, J. A. (2008). Latinos/as and white racial frame: The procrustean bed of assimilation. Sociological Inquiry, 78(1), 39–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2008.00220.x

Ferede, M. K. (2010). Structural factors associated with higher education access for first-generation refugees in Canada: An agenda for research. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 27(2), 79–88. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.34724

Ficarra, J. (2017). Comparative international approaches to better understanding and supporting refugee learners. Issues in Teacher Education, 26(1), 73–84. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1139319

Findlen Leblanc, E. (2017, October 3). We belong here: Eliminating inequity in education for immigrants and students of color in Maine. ACLU Maine. https://www.aclumaine.org/en/publications/report-we-belong-here

Gans, H. J. (2017). Racialization and racialization research. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(3), 341–352. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2017.1238497

Gowayed, H. (2020). Resettled and unsettled: Syrian refugees and the intersection of race and legal status in the United States. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), 275–293. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2019.1583350

Guerrero, P. M. (2016). Yellow peril in Arkansas: War, Christianity, and the regional racialization of Vietnamese refugees. Kalfou, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.15367/kf.v3i2.103

Hampton, M. (2017). Constructing the deviant woman: Gendered stigma of the 1980 Cuban Mariel migration. American Behavioral Scientist, 61(10), 1086–1102. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764217732105

Harper, S. R., Patton, L. D., & Wooden, O. S. (2009). Access and equity for African American students in higher education: A critical race historical analysis of policy efforts. The Journal of Higher Education, 80(4), 389–414. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2009.11779022

Hartley, L., Fleay, C., Baker, S., Burke, R., & Field, R. (2018, November). People seeking asylum in Australia: Access and support in higher education. National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Hartley_PeopleSeekingAsylum.pdf

Hendrey, E., & McClure, W. (2017). Queens College strategic plan for internationalization 2014–16. Queens College. https://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/GlobalEd/OGEI/Documents/Queens%20College_Internationalization_Implementation_Report.pdf

Hernández, S. (2013). Latino educational opportunity in discourse and policy: A critical and policy discourse analysis of the White House initiative on educational excellence for Hispanics [Doctoral dissertation]. Iowa State University. https://doi.org/10.31274/etd-180810-3197

Hua, J. (2010). Feminism, asylum and the limits of law. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 6(3), 375–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1743872110374263

Hudzik, J. K. (2011). Comprehensive internationalization: From concept to action. NAFSA: Association of International Educators. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/299464

International Labour Office, International Organization for Migration, & Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2001). International migration, racism, discrimination and xenophobia. https://www.refworld.org/docid/49353b4d2.html

Kanstroom, D. (2019, April 11). Evolving international approaches to migration control [Conference session]. Global Migration Conference 2019, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA.

Khajarian, A. (2020). The staying dynamic among Syrian students in the U.S. In L. Unangst, H. Ergin, A. Khajarian, T. DeLaquil, & H. De Wit (Eds.), Refugees and higher education: Transnational perspectives on access, equity and internationalization (pp. 79–97). Brill-Sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435841

Kiang, P. N. (2000). Wanting to go on: Healing and transformation at an urban public university. In E. (H.) T. Trueba & L. I. Bartolome (Eds.), Immigrant voices: In search of educational equity (pp. 137–166). Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Korntheuer, A., Gag, M., Anderson, P., & Schroeder, J. (2018). Education of refugee-background youth in Germany: Systematic barriers to equitable participation in the vocational education system. In S. Shapiro, R. Farrelly, & M. J. Curry (Eds.), Educating refugee-background students: Critical issues and dynamic contexts (pp. 191–207). Multilingual Matters.

Kruczek, S. (2018). Representations of higher education among adult refugees in the US. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 10, 49–52. https://doi.org/10.32674/jcihe.v10iWinter.690

Lambrechts, A. A. (2020). The super-disadvantaged in higher education: Barriers to access for refugee background students in England. Higher Education, 80, 803–822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00515-4

Lau, E. T. (2006). Paper families: Identity, immigration administration, and Chinese exclusion. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822388319

Leask, B. (2015). Internationalizing the curriculum. Routledge.

Lenette, C., Baker, S., & Hirsch, A. (2019). Systemic policy barriers to meaningful participation of students from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds in Australian higher education: Neoliberal settlement and language policies and (deliberate?) challenges for meaningful participation. In J. L. McBrien (Ed.), Educational policies and practices of English-speaking refugee resettlement countries (pp. 88–109). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004401891_004

Luu, D. H., & Blanco, G. L. (2019). Exploring US federal policy discourse on refugee access to post-secondary education. Higher Education Policy, 34, 456–473. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-019-00144-2

McBrien, J. L. (2005). Educational needs and barriers for refugee students in the United States: A review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 329–364. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543075003329

McWilliams, J. A., & Bonet, S. W. (2016). Continuums of precarity: Refugee youth transitions in American high schools. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 35(2), 153–170. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2016.1164468

Meissner, D., Hipsman, F., & Aleinikoff, T. A. (2018, September). The U.S. asylum system in crisis: Charting a way forward. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/us-asylum-system-crisis-charting-way-forward

National Immigration Forum. (2018). Fact sheet: U.S. asylum process. https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Asylum-Fact-Sheet-_Update_Final.pdf

National Student Clearinghouse. (2021, December). Enrollment reporting programming and testing guide, version 3.0. https://studentclearinghouse.info/onestop/wp-content/uploads/EnrollRept_ProgrammingandTestingGuide.pdf

North Dakota State University. (2020). Cultural diversity tuition waiver. https://www.ndsu.edu/admission/financial_aid/diversity_waiver

Ohm, R. (2019, August 19). Dozens of unexpected students from migrant surge force Portland-area schools to adjust. Central Maine. https://www.centralmaine.com/2019/08/19/dozens-of-unexpected-students-from-migrant-surge-force-portland-area-schools-to-adjust/

Oliveira, G., & Kentor, C. (2020). Latin Americans in the United States: Considerations on immigrant and refugee access to higher education. In L. Unangst, H. Ergin, A. Khajarian, T. DeLaquil, & H. de Wit (Eds.), Refugees and higher education: Transnational perspectives on access, equity and internationalization (pp. 98–112). Brill-Sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435841

Perna, L. W., & Smith, E. J. (2020). How our findings bear on future policy, practice, and research. In L. W. Perna & E. J. Smith (Eds.), Improving research-based knowledge of college promise programs (pp. 305–307). American Educational Research Association. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvxw3phv

Pima Immigrant and Refugee Student Resource Center. (2019, August 8). Elfa is thrilled to announce the fall Syrian & Somali pop-up souq! Retrieved February 23, 2022 from https://m.facebook.com/elfaempowerment/photos/a.270498520029283/700032473742550/?type=3&source=48&__tn__=EHH-R

Plimpton, L., Freeman, K., & Roy, A. (2014, July). College-going in Maine: Data brief. Mitchell Institute. https://mitchellinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/2014MaineCollegeGoing.pdf

Portland Regional Chamber. (2016). New Americans in Portland, ME: A snapshot of the demographic and economic contributions of immigrants in the metro area. https://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/22242/The-Contributions-of-Immigrants-to-Portlands-local-Economy?bidId=

Radford, J., & Connor, P. (2016, December 6). Just 10 states resettled more than half of recent refugees to U.S. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/12/06/just-10-states-resettled-more-than-half-of-recent-refugees-to-u-s/

Rumbaut, R. G., Gonzales, R. G., Komaie, G., Morgan, C. V., & Tafoya-Estrada, R. (2006). Immigration and incarceration: Patterns and predictors of imprisonment among first-and second-generation young adults. In R. Martínez, Jr. & A. Valenzuela, Jr. (Eds.), Immigration and crime: Race, ethnicity, and violence (pp. 64–89). New York University Press.

Singer, A., & Wilson, J. H. (2007, March 1). Refugee resettlement in metropolitan America. Migration Policy Institute. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/refugee-resettlement-metropolitan-america

Sontag, K., & Harder, T. (2018, December). What are the barriers for asylum seekers and refugees who want to enroll at a Swiss university? National Center of Competence in Research—The Migration-Mobility Nexus. https://nccr-onthemove.ch/wp_live14/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Policy-Brief-nccr-on-the-move-09-SontagHarder-EN-Web.pdf

Sorrell, K., Khalsa, S., Ecklund, E. H., & Emerson, M. O. (2019). Immigrant identities and the shaping of a racialized American self. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 5. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119852788

Subasi, S., Proyer, M., & Atanasoska, T. (2018). Re-accessing higher education: Regulations and challenges for refugees in Austria and Turkey. In K. Arar, K. Haj-Yehia, D. B. Ross, & Y. Kondakci (Eds.), Higher education challenges for migrant and refugee students in a global world (pp. 297–310). Peter Lang.

Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223–248). Sage Publications.

uLead Network. (2020). Retrieved February 14, 2022, from https://uleadnet.org/

Unangst, L. (2020). Human rights discourse and the U.S. education landscape: Refugee-specific activity at colleges and universities in Idaho and Maine. In L. Unangst, H. Ergin, A. Khajarian, T. DeLaquil, & H. de Wit. (Eds.), Refugees and higher education: Trans-national perspectives on access, equity, and internationalization (pp. 113–128). Brill-Sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435841

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2019). Stepping up: Refugee education in crisis. https://www.unhcr.org/steppingup/

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2020). Refugees in America. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/usa/

University of Buffalo. (2019). Learn about UB—Print materials. http://www.buffalo.edu/internationaladmissions/reference/ub-fact-sheets---other-languages.html

University of Texas at Austin. (2020). Refugee student mentor program. https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/mes/center/refugee-mentor-program/refugee_mentor_program.php

US Census Bureau Population Division. (2018). Annual estimates of the resident population for the United States, regions, states, and Puerto Rico: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2018. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-state-total.html

US Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2019, November). USCIS welcomes refugees and asylees. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/brochures/USCIS_Welcomes_Refugees_and_Asylees.pdf

US Department of Homeland Security. (2019). 2018 yearbook of immigration statistics. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2018/yearbook_immigration_statistics_2018.pdf

US Department of Homeland Security. (2020a). Table 16. Individuals granted asylum affirmatively or defensively: Fiscal years 1990 to 2018. In 2018 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2018/table16

US Department of Homeland Security. (2020b). Table 18. Individuals granted asylum affirmatively by relationship to principal applicant and sex, age, and marital status: Fiscal year 2018. In 2018 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook/2018/table18

Vigil, Y. N., & Abidi, C. B. (2019). “We” the refugees: Reflections on refugee labels and identities. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 34(2), 52–60. https://doi.org/10.7202/1055576ar

Wasem, R. E. (2020). More than a wall : The rise and fall of US asylum and refugee policy. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 8(3), 246–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/2311502420948847

Webb, S., Dunwoodie, K., and Wilkinson, J. (2019). Unsettling equity frames in Australian universities to embrace people seeking asylum. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 38(1), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/02601370.2018.1559891

Weber, S. (2020, March 6). Memorandum: Re: Refugee career pathways grant program (testimony of California Community Colleges). https://www.cccco.edu/-/media/CCCCO-Website/Files/Workforce-and-Economic-Development/RFAs/19-300-001/rfa-memo-refugee-grant.pdf?la=en&hash=24AEB2645997F8102858395BF3CA3023F346AFD7

Willems, K., & Vernimmen, J. (2018). The fundamental human right to education for refugees: Some legal remarks. European Educational Research Journal, 17(2), 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904117709386

Williams, L., Bonner, F., Monts, A., Louis, D., & Robinson, P. (2014). Recasting college outreach approaches to engage African-American alumni. Journal of African American Studies, 18(4), 417–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-014-9279-4

Wimmer, A., & Glick Schiller, N. (2003). Methodological nationalism, the social sciences, and the study of migration: An essay in historical epistemology. International Migration Review, 37(3), 576–610. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2003.tb00151.x

Woldegiyorgis, A. A. (2020). Higher education for refugees in Ethiopia. In L. Unangst, H. Ergin, A. Khajarian, T. DeLaquil, & H. de Wit (Eds.), Refugees and higher education: Transnational perspectives on access, equity and internationalization (pp. 209–224). Brill-Sense. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004435841

Wolfgram, M., Vang, I., & Cohen, C. B. (2018, December). Documenting higher education for refugees in Wisconsin. Center for Research on College–Workforce Transitions. https://ccwt.wceruw.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/CCWT_report_Documenting-Higher-Education-for-Refugees-in-Wisconsin.pdf

World Bank. (2019). The mobility of displaced Syrians: An economic and social analysis. https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/9781464814013.pdf

Wright, L. A., & Plasterer, R. (2012). Beyond basic education: Exploring opportunities for higher learning in Kenyan refugee camps. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 27(2), 42–56. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.34721

Yasuike, A. (2019). The academic success of undocumented Latino students: School programs, non-profit organizations, and social capital. Journal of Latinos and Education, 18(1), 42–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2017.1418354

Young, S. (2021). Delivering for the American people and meeting urgent needs in the new fiscal year. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/09/07/delivering-for-the-american-people-and-meeting-urgent-needs-in-the-new-fiscal-year/

Published

2022-04-29

How to Cite

Unangst, L., Casellas Connors, I., & Barone, N. (2022). State-Based Policy Supports for Refugee, Asylee, and TPS-Background Students in US Higher Education. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 38(1), 95–110. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40819

Similar Articles

<< < 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.