This petition calls for legislators to support access to higher education for all students; regardless of immigration status. Access to higher education is a value directly connected to North Carolina\'s history. We were the first state to open our doors to higher education in 1795 and any effort to restrict or deny education to certain groups of North Carolina students is unacceptable. (www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/home/facts.htm) An open door policy only affects enrollment to colleges. Undocumented students must still pay out-of-state tuition; according to the North Carolina Community College System is $2000 more than the actual cost of educating students. This is NOT about in-state tuition. Access to higher education for all students strengthens our future tax base. It gives an opportunity to young people who have grown up in North Carolina to obtain the higher education they have earned. Our state would receive long-term economic benefits that these students can provide as a highly educated and bilingual workforce. We must invest in the future of NC and the people who live, work and raise families here. This is a workforce development issue. North Carolina\'s state and local governments, businesses, and industry currently recruit college graduates from outside the state, as well as outside the US, to fill shortages in the fields of business, education, and health services. A number of children of immigrants have the potential to satisfy many of these essential job needs in NC. Immigrants pay taxes, hold jobs, and raise families; most will be here for the rest of their lives. It is important for all of NC that they move up the economic ladder and become self-sufficient engines of the NC economy. Access to our colleges will increase the state\'s collective productivity and economic growth by preparing an educated workforce. These are qualified North Carolina students. According to the law, any student in North Carolina is entitled to a public school education until the 12th grade, meaning that our state has already invested significantly in their education. These are high school students who did not come to our state by their own choice. They have attended elementary and secondary schools in this state for most of their lives, are high achieving and highly motivated, and are likely to remain in the state. Equal access, open door policies and nondiscrimination are values we hold dearly. By embracing all students that have earned the right to get a higher education, we can stay true to those values. For more information please go to: www.adelantenc.org

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