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Using difference-in-differences comparisons against groups unaffected by the policy, the study finds increased enrollment intensity, especially in degree-applicable and transferable courses, alongside reduced coursework in career/technical education. It also shows aid access did not raise credit loads to peers’ levels, indicating ongoing legal, social, and economic constraints.",{"@graph":69,"@context":126},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/broadened-possibilities-undocumented-community-college-student-course-enrollment-after-the-california-dream-act-article/591164/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/broadened-possibilities-undocumented-community-college-student-course-enrollment-after-the-california-dream-act-article/591164.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"McQueen","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118,122],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the study investigate about the California DREAM Act?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study examines whether access to financial aid under the California DREAM Act affected continuing undocumented students’ course enrollment decisions after they became newly eligible for fee waivers.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How is the policy impact identified in the research?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The research uses difference-in-differences comparisons with permanent residents, refugees, and U.S. citizens who were unaffected by these policy changes.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What changes were observed in students’ course enrollment after the Act?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"After implementation, continuing students increased enrollment intensity, mainly in degree-applicable and transferable courses, and decreased coursework in career/technical education.",{"name":123,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":124},"Did access to aid fully close gaps compared with peers?",{"text":125,"@type":113},"No. Although aid eligibility increased participation measures, it did not raise undocumented students’ credit loads to the level of their peers, highlighting that other constraints remain.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":128,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":130,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":132,"site_id":62},591164,1792192565,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":135},{"doc_id":132,"user_id":136,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":143,"language":144,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":148,"read_time":149,"preview_page_count":4},5909890329169,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2022, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584221091276  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2022. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nBroadened Possibilities: Undocumented Community College Student Course Enrollment After the California DREAM Act  \nFederick Ngo  \nJuanita K. Hinojosa  \nUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas  \nSome states have enacted inclusive policies that reduce constraints and uncertainty for undocumented students, potentially changing their academic decisions and postsecondary goals. We explore shifts in continuing undocumented community college students’course-taking before and after the California DREAM Act, which provided access to state financial aid. We use difference-in-differences comparisons with permanent residents, refugees, and U.S. citizens who were unaffected by these policies to examine policy impacts. After its implementation, continuing students increased their enrollment intensity, primarily in degree-applicable and transferable courses, and decreased coursework in career/technical education. This suggests state financial aid may have broadened postsecondary possibilities and made transfer to a 4-year institution a more viable option for undocumented students. At the same time, access to aid did not increase undocumented students’ credit loads to the level of their peers, underscoring the reality that other constraints continue to shape undocumented students’participation in higher education.  \nKeywords: undocumented students, community college, financial aid, education policy, difference-in-differences  \nEstimatEs suggest as many as 450,000 undocumented students are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, comprising 2% of all college students (Feldblum et al., 2020) . Eventhough research shows that undocumented students enter college more academically prepared and outperform their peers with legal status (Conger & Chellman, 2013; Hsin & Reed, 2020; Ngo & Astudillo, 2019), studies have also uncovered declining enrollment intensity and increased stop out among undocumented community college students relative to other immigrant students (Terriquez, 2015) . These trends underscore how undocumented status is a “master status” that significantly impacts college experiences and outcomes (Gonzales, 2011; Terriquez, 2015) . The reality is undocumented college students face multiple forms of legal, social, and economic exclusions and constraints; encounter unwelcoming campus climates due to a lack of inclusive policies and practices; and contend with the broader context of racism and xenophobia in society (Abrego & Gonzales, 2010; Bjorklund, 2018; Suárez-Orozco et al., 2015; Teranishi et al., 2015) . These challenges and barriers, among others, can influence college choices and stifle educational progress for undocumented students.  \nPolicy can play a role in removing some of these constraints and barriers by addressing material challenges and the systemic exclusion of undocumented individuals. This  \nstudy examines the impact of one such policy—the California DREAM Act—which removed some systemic barriers in higher education by providing undocumented immigrants with access to state financial aid resources. Implemented in 2013, the California DREAM Act allowed eligible highschool graduates meeting certain residency, merit, and needbased requirements to apply for state-funded financial aid and tuition and fee waivers. In the community college setting, eligible low-income undocumented students received Board of Governors (BOG) awards waiving tuition and enrollment fees, worth as much as $600 per semester for a full-time student (Assembly Bill [AB] 131, 2011; Fisher, 2016) . Important to this study, some undocumented students who were already enrolled also suddenly became eligible for the fee waivers.  \nWe investiga","cbCaikWmYgU7WLVU","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikWmYgU7WLVU","pdf",915007,17,"English","# Broadened Possibilities: Study Design and Policy Context\n## California DREAM Act and Financial Aid Access\n## Data Strategy and Comparison Groups\n## Effects on Enrollment Intensity and Course Types\n## Persistent Constraints and Credit-Load Gaps","[{\"question\":\"What does the study investigate about the California DREAM Act?\",\"answer\":\"The study examines whether access to financial aid under the California DREAM Act affected continuing undocumented students’ course enrollment decisions after they became newly eligible for fee waivers.\"},{\"question\":\"How is the policy impact identified in the research?\",\"answer\":\"The research uses difference-in-differences comparisons with permanent residents, refugees, and U.S. citizens who were unaffected by these policy changes.\"},{\"question\":\"What changes were observed in students’ course enrollment after the Act?\",\"answer\":\"After implementation, continuing students increased enrollment intensity, mainly in degree-applicable and transferable courses, and decreased coursework in career/technical education.\"},{\"question\":\"Did access to aid fully close gaps compared with peers?\",\"answer\":\"No. Although aid eligibility increased participation measures, it did not raise undocumented students’ credit loads to the level of their peers, highlighting that other constraints remain.\"}]","Broadened Possibilities - Undocumented Community College Student Course Enrollment After the California DREAM Act - Article | PDF",1792071257,43]