“I Try Not to Think About It”: College-Bound without Citizenship

Abstract

Seven respondents in the sample reported they were not US citizens at their first interview, meaning they were not eligible for federal or state financial aid to help pay for college. Even so, non-citizen respondents justified their college aspirations as the rational next step for success in US society. They explained their college aspirations using two primary frames of reference: an immigrant frame, which forefronted education as the primary reason their parents chose to migrate with or without “papers”; and a deserving DREAMer frame, which sought to leverage higher education as a means of demonstrating legitimacy and belonging in mainstream US culture.