For New Jersey DACA Student, The Road To College Is Bumpier Than Expected

Enlarge this image toggle caption Joel Rose/NPR Joel Rose/NPR

This story is part of Kitchen Table Conversations, a series from NPR's National Desk that examines how Americans from all walks of life are moving forward from the presidential election.

Desiree Armas worked hard in high school. So when she graduated in June from Union County Magnet High School in New Jersey, Armas had the flair to prove it. She was decked out in medals and honor cords — braided ropes with tassels on the end, in bright red and gold, that represent her academic and extracurricular accomplishments during high school.

"I always admired the kids who wore a bunch of stuff on graduation," Armas says. "So that's why I think I was so excited for graduation, just to low-key show off everything I've done."

But there was one big difference between Desiree Armas and the rest of her graduating class: Armas and her parents are living in the country illegally. Armas is signed up for the DACA program — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals — which protects her from deportation. Still, her immigration status made applying to college more complicated than she expected.

Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of the Armas Family Courtesy of the Armas Family

Even the college counselor at her high school was overwhelmed.

"I like my counselor. I really do respect her and, yes, she tried her best," Armas says. "But I mean it's, like, the first time she ever had to deal with something like that. Having to consider my immigration status. And she just didn't know how to deal with that."

While her classmates were committing to colleges, Armas was still trying to figure out if she could afford college at all. In some states, DACA students are eligible for state aid. New Jersey isn't one of them. So while Armas was admitted to a couple of schools — including Rutgers, the state university — the schools weren't offering enough financial aid to make it work.

"It was extremely sad to see Desiree so defeated," says her mother, Olga Armas, through a translator. "And we felt guilty, because we brought her to this country."

Desiree Armas left Peru with her parents when she was 3 years old. They eventually settled in Elizabeth, N.J.

Part of the problem with Armas' college applications was confusion over how to fill out her federal financial aid form, because her parents don't have Social Security numbers. That's not unusual, says Nedia Morsy, an organizer at the nonprofit Make the Road New Jersey, which works with DACA students.

"There's an education and responsibility that they need to have more than other students," says Morsy. "They need to have an awareness of what monies are available to them, and how. And then plan college applications around that. So money comes first, and the dream school comes after."

Morsy helped Desiree Armas get her financial aid paperwork straightened out. And she knew about another school in New Jersey that Armas hadn't applied to: Saint Peter's University, a small private college in Jersey City.

"St. Peter's offered me a full ride," Armas says. "They even called me saying, your application is, like, one of the best we've seen all year. They invited me to their honors college and they were, like, really excited for me to go. And right off the bat I really liked St. Peters."

Desiree Armas got some other good news in June: DACA will continue, at least for now. So after years of not knowing where — or if — she was going to college, Armas says, it was a relief.

She felt like all her hard work was starting to pay off.