Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

According to the evaluation report, despite attending different UC campuses, undocumented student experiences and sentiments on resource accessibility are universal. Students from different UC campuses expressed challenges and barriers to accessing resources due to social stigma, internalized guilt, inadequate outreach efforts, lack of funding, and the location of undocumented student centers on campuses.

To alleviate the challenges and disparities undocumented students face, report authors recommend: 1) Supporting undocumented students in the UC system by providing sufficient funds for undocumented student resources. 2) Allowing undocumented individuals to actively partake in the creation of resources for undocumented students. 3) Holding universities accountable for increasing outreach efforts to support undocumented students. 4) Providing professional development opportunities such as internships and fellowships specifically for undocumented students that are paid.

While many studies and publications on undocumented college student experiences are conducted and written by faculty, established professionals and researchers, this report was primarily authored by undocumented students to ensure that the voices of undocumented students were centered in report findings and recommendations.

A participatory focus group approach that asked undocumented undergraduate and graduate students to share their experiences was used for the report. The evaluation report is based on 2 rounds of focus groups and 23 participants, as well as campus resources, online UC open sources, and published information on the UC system. The report is meant to serve as a resource guide for students, faculty, and staff, and simultaneously provide feasible solutions to the current disparities in resources for undocumented students.