Opportunity is ‘open to anyone,’ but advertised heavily for undocumented students
A public college is touting an “income share agreement” for illegal immigrants, a program that allows students to pay no tuition up-front if they give a fixed percentage of their income back after graduation for a certain period of time.
Colorado Mountain College’s “Fund Suenos” program “helps students pay for college through income-share agreements. After students graduate and are working, they repay the funds based on a percentage of their earnings,” according to the school’s website.
The program is open to any student who qualifies for it, but the school places special emphasis on the program’s benefits for illegal immigrant students. The program is advertised as for “DACA students and others.” DACA refers to the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program. (“Fund Suenos” is Spanish for “Dream Fund;” DACA recipients are often called “dreamers.”)
A press release on the school’s website states that the program was created to “help DREAMers pay for college.” That statement said that the program is “designed to help eliminate the up-front cost of tuition for students such as those eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”
Carrie Hauser, the president of Colorado Mountain College, said in a statement that the Fund Suenos initiative is “designed to break down persistent financial barriers for DREAMers and other students.”
Debra Crawford, a spokeswoman for the school, explained more about the program to The College Fix via email.
“After graduating, students agree to pay 4 percent of future earnings, over a maximum period of 60 months after they graduate and secure a job making at least $30,000 annually,” Crawford, told The Fix.
“This pilot program was not created by a formal committee. It is the college’s first ISA, and is open to anyone who cannot access federal financial aid,” Crawford continued. The school “isn’t considering other ISA options immediately, as the program is a pilot to determine if the model works for our college, a low-cost, open enrollment institution,” she added.
Students who qualify for the program can receive up to $3,000 per year. Tuition is $2,400 a year, according to the school’s webpage.
“CMC’s program is 100 percent supported by philanthropic giving, provided by private donors via the CMC Foundation. It uses neither public nor investment funding, thus providing the college with significant flexibility to tailor the program to the needs of DACA students,” according to a fact sheet about the program.
“When students start paying back the funds they have used for college, that money then goes back into the fund for the next cohort of students, creating a sustainable ‘pay it forward’ model This is something that is important to both the pilot class of students and initial donors,” the fact sheet states.
MORE: Illegal immigrants shielded from University of California out-of-state tuition hike
MORE: Undocumented students enjoy lower tuition rates, other perks
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