Dive Brief:

• Some colleges are offering scholarships to students who were brought to the U.S. as children and are protected under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, The Washington Post reported.
• The financial support intends to make college possible for qualifying DACA students as they are not eligible for federal aid and cannot receive state financial aid in 42 states and in-state tuition in 30 states. Critics argue that using scholarship funds for DACA recipients is unfair to U.S. citizens who also need financial support.
• The City University of New York's graduate universities, Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University and Claremont Graduate University are among the institutions helping ease DACA recipients' cost burned.

Dive Insight:

The Trump administration's move to end DACA has met considerable resistance. Most recently, a federal judge in Texas last month ruled against ending the program after Texas and eight other states sued for an injunction to stop it. 

The president of the Association of American Universities, Mary Sue Coleman, yesterday issued a statement in support of DACA participants and urged Congress to make those protections permanent. She said it is important for the organization to remain vigilant to protect the futures of those who were brought to the U.S. as children, but now lawfully serve America's universities, "contributing to the economy and our scientific enterprise."

As The Post notes, several colleges and universities have echoed this sentiment by offering scholarships to DACA students. Institutions in Maryland could follow suit if Ben Jealous, Democratic candidate for governor, is successful. He recently pledged free community college tuition to DACA recipients in Maryland.

Following the Trump administration's decision to end the program, some states changed tuition benefits available to DACA students. That caused many students to reconsider their education options, and in some cases leave their institutions to pursue more affordable options or other work.