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Abstract
This qualitative pilot study uses Coleman's (1988) theory of social capital and Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez' (1992)concept of funds of knowledge to examine how three high-achieving, 1.5 generation Mexican American students navigate their undergraduate studies at Ivy League institutions. Findings of this study suggest that while Ivy League institutions may remove the financial barrier to higher education for undocumented students, the negative ramifications of an undocumented status continue to affect the college experience of high-achieving students. In turn, students activate their social capital and use their funds of knowledge to overcome the negative effects of an undocumented status.
Sixty-five thousand undocumented students who have lived in the United States for five or more years graduate from high school each year, but only 7,000 to 13,000 of all undocumented students are enrolled in college throughout the country. In the summer of 2012, President Obama announced the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that would grant hundreds of thousands of undocumented youths who met the criteria outlined in the policy deferment from deportation for two years and the opportunity to receive a work permit and social security number. This executive action introduced the opportunity for undocumented youths to join the mainstream institutions and come "out of the shadows" for a two-year, renewable period However, this policy is not a silver bullet solution to the social and economic challenges undocumented students face. In the meantime, undocumented students attending American public schools continue to face socio-emotional, economic, and developmental barriers in their journey through the American education and economic system. Because of these challenges, few undocumented students enter higher education, and even fewer complete a bachelor's degree. There are, nonetheless, undocumented students who enter higher education at the most prestigious universities in the country.
Purpose of the Study
Low-income, underrepresented students require a significant amount of resilience to enter and persist through higher education. Although families may have experiential and general knowledge about college, often the more formal procedural knowledge may be unfamiliar.2 For example, low socioeconomic students may not know how to fill out financial aid forms or may be unfamiliar with opportunities for early admission at private institutions. Navigating the educational pipeline requires additional creative solutions to the limitations posed by an undocumented status.