The U is offering a privately funded scholarship for undocumented students.
The scholarship was announced at the Hispanic Business Students Association’s event last week, Bailamos.
Felix Salazar, a junior in honors economics and pre-med and president of HBSA, said this scholarship is the first of its kind on the U’s campus. This scholarship has been in the making for about a year and a half, and the goal is to present the $500 scholarship to two students who are members of the HBSA club this August.
“I think this scholarship will be helpful for students to be more excited about education and help them achieve their goals through the U,” Salazar said.
The scholarship is open to “DREAMers” — students who are enrolled under either the federal DREAM Act or Utah’s version of it, which gives undocumented immigrant students a chance to go to college — as well as non-DREAM students.
Salazar said he wants to “help give back” to the 30 to 40 members of the club and said he has seen many students come from “families faced with barriers,” because of the impact of their ethnicity on their social status.
Many “DREAMers” do not have Social Security numbers and cannot attain one, which makes it difficult for them to get jobs or other scholarships.
Paying for college becomes an issue for these students because they are granted minimal financial aid and student loans, and are not eligible to apply for public scholarships such as ones at the U.
Utah’s version of the DREAM Act, H.B. 144, passed in Utah in 2002. It allows undocumented students to attend publicly funded institutions of higher education in Utah if they attended a Utah high school for more than three years and graduated.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, only 16 other states allow undocumented students to receive in-state tuition as of February 2014.
Brandley Perez, a junior in accounting, is glad to see a scholarship that will help students with barriers go to school and take classes. He has a close friend who was unable to attend the U because of the financial problems of being a DREAMer.
“It relieves some pressure,” Perez said.
Keith Blanc, a sophomore in communications, said he believes the scholarship is too narrowly tailored.
“I don’t think private scholarships are fair or right,” Blanc said.
Mehvash Saleem, a junior in health society and policy, disagreed, saying this scholarship will give equal opportunity to all students who work hard and are struggling between going to school and finding a job.
“Even as little as $500 helps,” Saleem said.
Salazar said he wants the scholarship to be an example of offering scholarships to all students, regardless of citizenship.
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