An article published January 8th in The Gazette examines the impact of the Maryland Dream Act after its first year. The law allows undocumented immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools and meet certain conditions to pay in-state and in-county tuition at Maryland public community colleges and public universities.

The article, titled “The First Year of ‘Dreamers,'” references UMBC’s Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research study on the economic impact of the Dream Act. The report concluded the Dream Act would benefit state and local governments with $6.2 million in economic activity.

The article mentions opponents’ claims that the Dream Act would reduce the number of openings available at public institutions, but UMBC’s study refutes that claim, stating that “additional undocumented immigrant students admitted to Maryland public community colleges — which have open enrollment — will have no impact on the probability that other students will or will not be admitted. It also stated that the Dream Act will not hurt the number of citizens admitted as freshmen to a four-year public university.”

The study is also mentioned when analyzing costs of the program for additional schooling on a per-student basis, “but such costs will be more than offset by increased tax dollars, as well as a drop in spending on incarceration and other social programs that is expected to accompany a more educated population, according to the study.”

You can read the full article in The Gazette here.