In an age where public leaders and institutions tend to avoid speaking out on controversial issues, it is refreshing to know that there are still institutions that have the courage to publicly step out and do the right thing in support of the greater good. This treasured step in leadership is being demonstrated by Metropolitan State University of Denver as they considered a new tuition structure for undocumented students that will make it more affordable for them to continue their education.
In the past few years, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver has consistently supported the legislation that would provide undocumented Colorado students a chance to go to college, and now we applaud and support Metropolitan State University of Denver in their efforts to do just that.
One might ask why a business organization like ours would consider this issue so important, especially since — some would argue — this gives undocumented students lower cost tuition than that given to students of legal standing from the other forty nine states. As a Chamber of Commerce, we are supportive of these efforts because we believe there are essential business arguments that would exclusively benefit Coloradoans. As was noted in the Denver Post editorial, “This is a unique group of students, largely educated in Colorado’s K-12 schools, most of them brought here as young children.” In fact, statistics show that Colorado taxpayers have paid an average of $70,000 to educate these undocumented students who have graduated from our public high schools, therefore, it clearly makes good business sense to get a return on the investment Coloradoans made on them. When one takes into account the earning potential value of a college degree (estimated at $2.8M in additional earnings, over a lifetime), by allowing these kids to go to college, and using a simple tax rate of 25 percent, we will see a return on the investment we made on them of well over $600,000 back into the public coffers.
Every business organization around the country stresses the urgent need for a more educated workforce to remain competitive in the global economy. For this reason, we have all heard of proposals to give foreign students who come to our colleges the legal status to stay and work in this country. In fact, Colorado is facing a future where we will need to import workers with bachelors and advanced degrees to meet the future labor demands. Therefore, it makes sense to look at these undocumented kids in much the same way we view foreign students, after all, they are already here and part of our community, they have not dropped out of school and do not have criminal records. What Metro is doing is smart and visionary.
We know that many will oppose what Metro is doing because of the lack of resolution to the immigration issues in this country. But we should not put the lives of these young people in limbo until all immigration issues are resolved. Let’s remember that the decision to come to the U.S. was made for them by their parents. All would agree that the adults broke our laws in coming here illegally, but children in this country should not get punished for the crime committed by their parents. All these young students are guilty of is of having no choice but to follow the will of the adults they depended on for their survival. We fully support Metro’s actions; perhaps they can serve as the springboard to open the discussion that would give these undocumented students a chance to earn their legal status by doing something very positive for their community, getting their college education.
Guillermo “Bill” Vidal is former Denver Mayor and President & CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver. Perla Gheiler is chair of the Board of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
