[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-detail-579103-en":59,"doc-seo-579103-105":81},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":60},{"doc_id":61,"user_id":62,"nickname":63,"user_avatar":64,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":66,"doc_content":67,"file_id":68,"file_url":69,"file_type":70,"file_size":71,"view_count":8,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":72,"language":73,"language_code":74,"site_id":75,"html_lang":74,"table_of_contents":76,"faqs":77,"seo_title":78,"seo_description":66,"update_tm":79,"read_time":80},579103,8796095462418,"Noah","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/80000253c1241d02b47?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1778826106357471780","The Limits of DACA - Affordability-and Access-related Barriers to Health Professions Education","The U.S. is facing a shortage of health professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. One pathway to addressing this shortage is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which offers temporary relief from deportation for people who arrived before age 16. Using 15 life-history narrative interviews, the study examines Latinx young adults pursuing health professions education or working as health professionals, comparing DACA recipients with second-generation immigrants. DACA recipients experienced additional affordability- and access-related barriers tied to precarious legal status and uncertainty, which pushed them out of the HPE pathway.","Journal of College Access  \n\n| Volume 11  Issue 2 | Article 6 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2026\u003Cbr>The Limits of DACA: Affordability-and Access-related Barriers to Health Professions Education\u003Cbr>Nicole Perez\u003Cbr>University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, [nperez57@uic.edu](nperez57@uic.edu)\u003Cbr>Laura Hirshfield\u003Cbr>University of Illinois College of Medicine, [lhirshf@uic.edu](lhirshf@uic.edu)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca](https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca)\u003Cbr> Part of the Higher Education Commons, Immigration Law Commons, Medical Education Commons, and the Sociology Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nPerez, Nicole and Hirshfield, Laura (2026) \"The Limits of DACA: Affordability-and Access-related Barriers to Health Professions Education,\" Journal of College Access: Vol. 11: Iss. 2, Article 6.  \nAvailable at: [https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol11/iss2/6](https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol11/iss2/6)  \nThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Michigan University at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of College Access by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact wmu[scholarworks@wmich.edu](scholarworks@wmich.edu).  \nThe Limits of DACA: Affordability-and Access-related Barriers to Health Professions Education  \nCover Page Footnote  \n– Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Dr. Brian Tuohy for his extensive and insightful comments on this paper.– Funding/support: None.– Other disclosures: None.– Ethical approval: The broader study was approved by the institutional review board of the University of Notre Dame.– Previous presentations: Work on this topic was previously presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Mini Conference on Health Professions Education and at the annual International Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE) conference.  \nThis article is available in Journal of College Access: [https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol11/iss2/6](https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jca/vol11/iss2/6)  \nThe Limits of DACA: Affordability-and Accessrelated Barriers to Health Professions Education  \nAuthored by  \nNicole A. Perez (University of Illinois College of Medicine) Laura E. Hirshfield (University of Illinois College of Medicine)  \nABSTRACT  \nThe [U.S. is](U.S. is) currently facing a shortage of health professionals from underrepresented backgrounds. One potenƟal pathway to decrease this shortage is through the Deferred AcƟon for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, a policy that provides temporary relief from deportaƟon for individuals who migrated to the U.S. before age 16. This study, using 15 life-history narraƟve interviews, invesƟgates the experiences of LaƟnx young adults who were pursuing health professions educaƟon or working as health professionals. Nine of the parƟcipants were DACA recipients, while the remaining six were second-generaƟon (i.e., children of immigrants) . An iteraƟve, inducƟve approach to data analysis was used to idenƟfy common paƩerns through the development of key themes that were analyzed through the lens of Gonzales’ theory of “master status”. For all study parƟcipants, aspiraƟons to pursue health professions educaƟon (HPE) were rooted in their experiences growing up in a local, new immigrant community context and in the challenges their families faced aƩempƟng to access culturally and linguisƟcally concordant healthcare. However, DACA recipients faced addiƟonal barriers due to their precarious legal status and the uncertainty of the DACA program. Specifically, affordability-and access-related barriers created difficulƟes in funding their educaƟon and prematurely pushed them out of the HPE pathway. These findings demonstrate how the DACA program offers young adults parƟal access to HPE because of how legal status operates as a “master status”. ParƟcipants’ legal status shapes what opƟons they perceive to be viable in the HPE pathway given Ɵme to de","cbCairsiECJfz9Rj","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCairsiECJfz9Rj","pdf",364155,22,"English","en",105,"# ABSTRACT\n## Study design and participants\n## Key themes and barriers\n## Implications for access through legal status","[{\"question\":\"What is the focus of this study?\",\"answer\":\"The study investigates how DACA-related and related affordability and access barriers shape Latinx young adults’ experiences pursuing health professions education or working in health professions.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the researchers analyze the interview data?\",\"answer\":\"The authors used an iterative, inductive approach to identify common patterns by developing key themes and analyzing them through Gonzales’ theory of “master status”.\"},{\"question\":\"What additional barriers did DACA recipients face compared with second-generation participants?\",\"answer\":\"DACA recipients faced added barriers linked to their precarious legal status and uncertainty of the DACA program, including affordability and access difficulties that disrupted funding and pushed them out of the HPE pathway.\"}]","The Limits of DACA - Affordability-and Access-related Barriers to Health Professions Education | PDF",1792034998,55,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"ok",{"site_id":75,"language":74,"slug":84,"title":65,"keywords":85,"description":66,"schema_data":86,"social_meta":139,"head_meta":141,"extra_data":143,"updated_unix":144},"the-limits-of-daca-affordability-and-access-related-barriers-to-health-professions-education","",{"@graph":87,"@context":138},[88,102,121],{"@type":89,"itemListElement":90},"BreadcrumbList",[91,95,97,100],{"item":92,"name":93,"@type":94,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":96,"name":9,"@type":94,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":98,"name":35,"@type":94,"position":99},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":101,"name":65,"@type":94,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-limits-of-daca-affordability-and-access-related-barriers-to-health-professions-education/579103/",{"url":101,"name":65,"@type":103,"image":104,"author":109,"headline":65,"publisher":111,"fileFormat":114,"inLanguage":74,"description":66,"dateModified":115,"datePublished":115,"encodingFormat":114,"isAccessibleForFree":116,"interactionStatistic":117},"DigitalDocument",{"url":105,"@type":106,"width":107,"height":108},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-limits-of-daca-affordability-and-access-related-barriers-to-health-professions-education/579103.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":63,"@type":110},"Person",{"url":92,"name":112,"@type":113},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":118,"interactionType":119,"userInteractionCount":8},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":120},"ViewAction",{"@type":122,"mainEntity":123},"FAQPage",[124,130,134],{"name":125,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":127},"What is the focus of this study?","Question",{"text":128,"@type":129},"The study investigates how DACA-related and related affordability and access barriers shape Latinx young adults’ experiences pursuing health professions education or working in health professions.","Answer",{"name":131,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":132},"How did the researchers analyze the interview data?",{"text":133,"@type":129},"The authors used an iterative, inductive approach to identify common patterns by developing key themes and analyzing them through Gonzales’ theory of “master status”.",{"name":135,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":136},"What additional barriers did DACA recipients face compared with second-generation participants?",{"text":137,"@type":129},"DACA recipients faced added barriers linked to their precarious legal status and uncertainty of the DACA program, including affordability and access difficulties that disrupted funding and pushed them out of the HPE pathway.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":101,"og:type":140,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":112,"og:description":66},"article",{"robots":142,"canonical":101},"index,follow",{"doc_id":61,"site_id":75},1792100118]