Rice expands admission and financial aid policy for undocumented students

By Amber Tong     8/30/16 10:51pm

Rice University is restating its admission and financial aid policy to reflect its welcoming attitude toward undocumented students, according to a Rice News press release. The policy, which will be updated online, will take effect in admission starting in fall 2017.

The policy concerns undocumented students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status at the time of admission as well as those without DACA status who will have graduated from a U.S. high school at the time of matriculation and who have lived in the U.S. for an extended period of time.

“We believe that it serves both these talented students and our nation to assure that they have access to a Rice education,” President David Leebron said.

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Leebron and Provost Marie Lynn Miranda credit the impetus for these changes to the discussions they had with members of the Students of Color Collective, a coalition formed by Blaque Robinson (Wiess ’16) last year with the goal of improving underrepresented minority students’ experiences at Rice. Robinson said she was grateful for the group of fellow students she worked with to achieve change.

“Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your voice doesn’t matter,“ Robinson said in a Facebook post. “Stand up and speak out.”

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