Soren Jacobson is a student at Cal State University Channel Islands. He would like to be a nurse. Here’s why:
“I’m a childhood cancer survivor. I’ve been cancer-free for about 16 years now, and I want to go back to the old hospital [where] I used to be a patient and take care of other little kids in the oncology department,” Jacobson explained.
For Jacobson, federal and state financial aid has been critical in making it possible to go to college.
There’s a form that students fill in for aid called a FAFSA — the free application for federal student aid — which is used to calculate financial aid. And although it doesn’t explicitly ask for the immigration status of students’ parents or guardians, it does ask for social security numbers.
“A lot of the students, their parents don’t have a social security number, mainly because their parents aren’t from the United States,” he said. “They’re from out of country or they’re immigrants, usually. So that’s what poses the not being a citizen, not having the social security number.”
In fact, about 75% of the undergrads at Cal State Channel Islands fill out an application for financial aid and that information isn’t supposed to be shared with other government agencies, including immigration and customs enforcement.
But Sunshine Garcia, the executive director of financial aid and scholarships at Cal State Channel Islands, says the new administration at the White House means parents and students are in uncharted waters, and they are anxious about disclosures in the forms.
“I think this year is going to be tough. Our newer students are a little more cautious about this. We’re in very difficult times,” Garcia said.
It’s a very different administration with a very different view of higher education, Garcia shared, and a lot of this data is protected even from other federal entities.
“The Department of Education can’t share information with other entities, and we’re going to have to reassure parents and students and probably do more outreach to calm their fears,” she said. “And I’m not sure we’re going to be able to do that.”
“We’re going to have to be really calm in our answers because even we’re uncertain about things right now, because everything is such in flux and changing,” Garcia continued.
She said that they would just have to provide the parents and students with the facts they currently have and that they hope they can help make the right decision for everyone.
“But yeah, these are really uncharted waters we’re in right now with this political climate,” Garcia said.
Mixed-status families will make these decisions within the next month, as it is recommended that students apply for state and federal aid by March 2.
An earlier version of this story was published at KCLU.