Out of 125 applicants, Cadenas was one of seven accepted into a Ph.D. program in psychology. But paying for the program was even more challenging for Cadenas than a typical student. Because Cadenas, 24, a native of Venezuela, is an illegal immigrant, he must pay out-of-state tuition, which is twice as expensive as in-state rates. The same 5-year-old Arizona law that imposed out-of-state tuition rates also bars undocumented students from receiving any taxpayer-funded financial aid. Undeterred, he created a Web page dubbed "German. Chasing his Dream!" on gofundme.com, a fundraising site. He started a blog chronicling his academic achievements to draw in more donations. And he began soliciting money on YouTube and on his Facebook page, which lists 942 friends.
Cadenas is one of a small but growing number of undocumented immigrants in Arizona and other states using online campaigns to raise money to pay for college and graduate school. The approach allows undocumented students in states like Arizona to continue their education despite laws aimed at cutting them off from public funding. Without legal status, most undocumented students won't be able to put their degrees to use, because illegal immigrants can't legally work in the U.S. But raising money to stay in school also buys them time should Congress pass comprehensive immigration reform or the Dream Act, a proposed law that would allow undocumented students to legalize their status if they attended college or joined the military. "I figure if I am not able to work, I might as well continue my education," Cadenas said one recent morning in a cafe on the ASU campus in Tempe.
His goal is to become a psychology professor and then develop a program that helps high-school students from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome adversity to attend college. So far, his online campaign has been effective. As of Sept. 9, Cadenas had raised $19,253 toward his $25,000 goal, the amount Cadenas figures he will need to cover the first year of the five- to seven-year program. That includes $18,386 for out-of-state tuition (that's $8,165 more than in-state), plus books and living expenses. Cadenas said he got the idea for an online campaign from Silvia Rodriguez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who graduated from North High School in Phoenix in 2005 and from ASU in 2009.
Last year, Rodriguez, 24, raised about $20,000 through an online campaign to help pay for graduate school at Harvard University. She called the campaign "Harvard. Si, se puede." The online campaign included a blog about her goal to attend Harvard and a documentary-style video she posted on YouTube asking for donations. She raised the rest of the $50,000 she needed for tuition and living expenses through private scholarships and selling paintings and other artwork she makes. In May, she graduated from Harvard with a master's degree in education. "My story went all over the place," said Rodriguez, who now plans to get a doctorate. As a result, "a lot of (undocumented) students started contacting me and asking me how I did it."
Matias Ramos, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C., said he has heard of other undocumented students using online campaigns to raise money for college or graduate school. But, he said, "it's not really common. I don't know of a lot of people doing it, but I would say it is growing." By appealing for money online, undocumented students risk drawing attention from immigration officials, said Ramos, a co-founder of the United We Dream Network, a national coalition that pushed for passage of the Dream Act. But it's unlikely the online campaigns will get them arrested or deported, he said. Though the Obama administration has deported record numbers of illegal immigrants, officials announced in August that they plan to back off from deporting undocumented students and other illegal immigrants without criminal records to focus on deporting criminals.
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Web pleas help migrants pay for college
