Maryland Higher Education Commission News

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At Anne Arundel Community College, officials don't expect too many illegal immigrant students will try to take advantage of the lower tuition rates established by the DREAM Act.

"I don't think it's going to be that terribly difficult to administer," said John Grabowski, assistant dean for enrollment services at AACC. "I'm guessing there will not be hundreds of individuals. There will be a few."

The DREAM Act was one of the most controversial bills approved by state lawmakers during their 90-day General Assembly session earlier this year.

It passed by a narrow margin and was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

Almost immediately, opponents started a petition drive to put the DREAM Act to a statewide vote during the 2012 election. If they are successful in forcing the referendum, the law will be put on hold until its fate is decided during the election.

But colleges have to prepare anyway to implement the law on July 1.

"We're preparing guidelines and procedures that align with the law - the law goes into effect July 1 - so we'll be able to provide this to individuals who are interested," Grabowski said.

The DREAM Act allows students who do not have documented legal residency to pay in-state tuition rates if they meet a series of requirements.

For example, they must be graduates of a Maryland high school, they or their parent must have paid state taxes for at least three years, they must continue to pay taxes while enrolled, male students must register for the Selective Service.

At first, DREAM Act students only would be eligible for paying in-state tuition at community colleges. After two years at a community college, they would be eligible for in-state rates at a four-year state college or university if they are admitted.

All community colleges in Maryland have been busy nailing down the details of how to determine who is eligible for the DREAM Act.

Grabowski said AACC has set up paperwork and a review system in the registration office for potential DREAM Act students. The staff has tried to make the forms as clear and student-friendly as possible.

He said setting up the DREAM Act paperwork hasn't been too difficult, noting that community colleges often must adjust to changes, such as Veterans Affairs programs or financial aid rules.

"There are hundreds of changes a year, some bigger, some smaller. We just respond," Grabowski said.

Maryland HBCUs Sue State For Racial Discrimination | News One

A civil rights group is suing Maryland’s Higher Education Commission for allegedly discriminating against the state’s four historically black colleges. The plaintiffs argue that Morgan State University, Coppin State University, Bowie State University and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore have underdeveloped programs because black schools are funded in a manner that puts predominately white schools at a huge advantage. Administrators at Maryland HBCUs believe their institutions are deprived of the tools needed to create competitive curricula, while being forced to wait much longer to receive appropriated monies. The results are outdated infrastructures and inferior courses leading to low student retention. The Baltimore Sun reports that: “Parity among higher-education institutions has been an issue in the state and country for centuries, and the lawsuit recounts 200 years of [racist] history[.]”

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Assistant Attorney General Campbell Killifer, while representing the Maryland Higher Education Commission, argued that the state should be let off the hook for the continuing disparities between traditionally black colleges and predominantly white schools. While Maryland has admitted to practicing discrimination in the past, state leadership maintains that it has addressed this issue sufficiently to level the playing field completely and that any differences in quality that continue must be due to other factors. Killifer seeks to shift the burden of proof for the accusation of racism to the struggling black organizations crying out for solutions to persistent inequalities.

The Consumerist Blog has spawned an interesting debate about this fight. Some readers are appalled that Maryland will not investigate whether discriminatory practices might still be taking place. Others contend that the decline of these HBCUs marks the moment for all black colleges’ timely demise. The relatively successful integration of elite universities like Harvard does de-emphasize the urgency of the HBCU’s original purpose. Plus, if even the administrators of Maryland’s black colleges admit that neighboring institutions are better, college bound African-American students could be harming their prospects by “going black.”

The benefits of attending an HBCU depend on one’s field of interest. Studies show black students do better in math and technology when they attend African-American establishments, and that HBCUs graduate a significant percentage of our nation’s black scientists – and political leaders . At a time when we need to see more of our youth move into the sciences, and leadership in our community is in crisis, these points are vital to consider.  But for the general job market, the economic benefit of attending an HBCU is non-existent. Attending a predominantly white school helps blacks earn 20% more than those graduating from HBCUs. This fact could account for the steady decline in HBCU attendance .

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