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Undocumented Graduate & Professional Student Resource Hub

This resource hub aspires to be a comprehensive central point where campuses and students can find information on graduate and professional school access, retention and success. It is meant to be a living document that will be updated regularly and include any new resources that campuses and organizations develop.

 

Research on Undocumented Graduate Students

Although there is a plethora of research being created by well-known researchers and organizations on undocumented undergraduate students, there is not enough research on undocumented graduate students. This section compiles research that focuses on graduate and professional students or prospective students.  This can be helpful for students, practitioners, educators, and administrators in their pursuit of creating positive change in their line of work.

Scholarly Articles

Research

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) medical students – an examination of their journey and experiences as medical students in limbo

This article focuses on DACA medical students' experiences and contributions to the US healthcare system. DACA recipient medical students do not represent the good immigrant story but rather what comprehensive immigration policy can make possible by allowing individuals to pursue self-actualization free from the threat of detention and deportation.

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Research

The Termination of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA)Protections and Medical Education in the U.S.

This article examines how the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy poses unique challenges for medical education and healthcare. The loss of DACA medical students and residents may further compromise the diversity of physicians in the U.S., negatively impacting underserved communities.

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Research

Learning from Undocumented Students: Testimonios for Strategies to Support and Resist

This article covers how undocumented students and their families are in the crossfire as the Trump administration has taken an aggressive stance to criminalize, deport, and degrade them.

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Research

Achieving the Dream, Uncertain Futures: The Postbaccalaureate Decision-Making Process of Latinx Undocumented Students

This qualitative study examined the decision-making process of undocumented college students pursuing graduate degrees, and how their commitment to matriculate in higher education programs is shaped by a myriad of social, familial, financial, and institutional factors.

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Research

Undocumented Chicanx/Latinx Graduate Students: Illuminating Home-Based Sources Of Support

This qualitative research study explores the experiences of Chicanx/Latinx undocumented graduate students in higher education and specifically examines the home-based teachings and learnings employed by their parents to access and navigate higher education institutions.

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Research

How Can We Improve Graduate Training for Undocumented Students? Ethnic and Nativity-Based Inequities in Political Science Graduate Education

This article highlights the unique barriers that undocumented students face during graduate training and proposes potential solutions. This article follows a graduate student's process starting from their admissions, the need for institutional advocates, funding, research-related travel, and interactions with other undocumented students.

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Research

The Long-Term Impact of DACA: Forging Futures Despite DACA’s Uncertainty

This report presents results from the UnDACAmented Research Project, which examines how young people have experienced their Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status from 2013-2019. DACA provides temporary relief from deportation and work authorization, allowing beneficiaries for social mobility such as access to higher education and professional employment.

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Research

Discourse and Power: Building Educational Pathways with Undocumented Students

The authors research the labor contract negotiations that occurred on September 12, 2013 by undocumented undergraduate students and graduate students who testified before the University of California (UC) to include UC Teaching Assistants, Readers, and Tutors as job opportunities for undocumented students.

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Research

Education Equity for Undocumented Graduate Students and the Graduate Students and the Key Role of My Undocumented Life

The article discusses the challenges that undocumented students face in pursuing graduate school, such as charting pathways to graduate school in isolation, seeking information specific to undocumented students, decisions around whether to disclose one’s immigration status, and lack of financial aid opportunities.

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Research

Wasted talent and broken dreams: The lost potential of undocumented students

The report found that 65,000 undocumented children who have lived in the US for five years or longer graduate from high school each year but are not eligible for most forms of financial aid. The bipartisan Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act could provide a solution by allowing undocumented students to apply for legal permanent resident status.

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Research

Where Do I Go from Here? Examining the Transition of Undocumented Students Graduating from College

In this longitudinal qualitative study, examines how 23 undocumented college students with and without DACA navigated the college graduation process and transitioned out of higher education. This article presents findings through two in-depth participant narratives to bolster humanizing and counterstorytelling practices in higher education scholarship.

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Research

Beyond Access: Psychosocial Barriers to Undocumented Students’ Use of Mental Health Services

This article examines a unique population of undocumented immigrants who have access to healthcare to identify how immigration status hinders mental health service utilization in the absence of barriers related to eligibility and insurance coverage.

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Research

Immigration Status and Postsecondary Opportunity: Barriers to Affordability, Access, and Success

This article, published in The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, discusses how immigrant and undocumented students face significant barriers in accessing and obtaining a postsecondary degree.

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