The New York State DREAM Act: A preliminary estimate of costs and benefits

With the federal DREAM Act stalled in Congress as of March 2012, many people have been talking about a "New York State DREAM Act." The New York State DREAM Act would open the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to all students who meet the funding criteria, irrespective of their immigration status.

To combat the prevailing misinformation on the impact such an Act would have on the New York State education, society and, particularly, economy, the Fiscal Policy Institute researched this preliminary estimate of costs and benefits. Upon publication, the paper was immediately utilized by news sources such as The New York Times in an editorial.

The paper finds that extending the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) to include eligible undocumented students would increase TAP expenditures by roughly two percent but would ultimately bring added tax revenue. It also finds that higher education provides a very strong return on investment, that most children of undocumented immigrants are U.S. citizens, and students who are themselves undocumented are already eligible for in-state tuition.

For more from the Fiscal Policy Institute, click here. 

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