Story from the field: SPLC helps son of immigrant family break barrier to college education
When I met Antonio in the spring of 2015, I could tell right away that he was a high achiever.
He was an exceptional student, a talented track runner and a motivated employee at his part-time job. Antonio’s resume brimmed with academic and social clubs, volunteer work and awards given to him by local community groups. It was clear that Antonio had earned the respect of his peers, his teachers and his community. Above all, he showed incredible dedication to the well-being of his family.
Antonio had applied and been accepted to the College of Charleston – his top choice. When he crunched the numbers, he had just enough money from scholarships, grants and his own income to pay the costs.
For most high school seniors, that spring would have been the time to coast through the next several months with the youthful swagger that comes with having it all figured out. But for Antonio, the joy of the moment was lost when he learned that he would not qualify for in-state tuition, a sizeable scholarship or the need-based grants he had received. Without these funds, it would be impossible for him to attend the College of Charleston.
Antonio is a U.S. citizen living in South Carolina, but because he could not prove that his parents are U.S. citizens or have certain lawful immigration status, he was classified as an out-of-state resident and rendered ineligible for in-state tuition, scholarships and grants.
Antonio told me that never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that as a U.S. citizen he would be punished because of his parents’ immigration status. As a longtime South Carolinian, it was unthinkable that he would be forced to pay nearly triple the tuition rate of his peers and lose scholarships he had worked so hard to earn.
That summer, in addition to saving money and hanging out with friends, he scrambled for a back-up plan so he could afford to start school in the fall. At the same time, he joined with two other brave students to become a plaintiff in an SPLC lawsuit against the College of Charleston and the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) to challenge the policy that jeopardized his college plans.
Antonio did not hesitate to join the lawsuit, a daunting choice for any person, let alone a teenager, because he was committed to correcting this injustice and paving a way for him and other students facing the same situation.
After we filed the lawsuit, the College of Charleston agreed to classify Antonio as an in-state student. He was granted in-state tuition, and he received the scholarship and grants he had counted on. After a hearing last August, the CHE issued guidance saying that South Carolina colleges and universities could classify students like Antonio as state residents, thereby making them eligible for in-state tuition and the financial aid he had been promised.
Our suit in South Carolina is just one of the many ways the SPLC is helping the children of immigrant families gain access to a quality education. We’ve successfully sought similar tuition reform in several other Deep South states, including Florida, where we won an important federal court ruling four years ago to change that state’s policy.
Today, Antonio is finishing up his freshman year at the College of Charleston.
At college, he is organizing a group of fellow students to speak at local high schools and community groups about this very issue. I’m proud that we were able to help this promising student. And I’m inspired by his devotion to making sure that other kids like him are not deterred from applying to college for fear of discrimination.
Emily Martin is an outreach paralegal in the SPLC’s Immigrant Justice Project
