In one month Maryland voters will decide whether to allow undocumented immigrants who graduate from Maryland high schools and meet other requirements to pay in-county/in-state tuition at local community colleges and public universities. Until now, voters had little information to go on about the Dream Act’s likely effects, but a new report from UMBC professors T.H. Gindling (economics) and Marvin Mandell (public policy) offers hard data on its economic impacts.

“Private and Government Fiscal Costs and Benefits of the Maryland Dream Act” is a working paper funded by the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR) at UMBC. The conclusion: For each annual cohort of students who utilize the Dream Act, total net benefits to the economy are approximately $66 million.

The Baltimore Sun heralded the study’s detailed analysis and concluded: “The emotional, philosophical and moral debates stirred by the referendum on this issue are certainly important. But on a practical level, there is no question: The Dream Act is good for Maryland.” The Washington Post and WYPR’s Maryland Morning featured additional comments from researchers Gindling and Mandell.

Access the full working paper and a policy brief summarizing the study at umbc.edu/mipar.

Update (10/16/2012): Additional coverage has appeared in the Gazette, Daily Record Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, DC Examiner, Westminster Patch and Lutherville-Timonium Patch. WYPR’s Inside Maryland Politics, Immigration Impact, Capital News Service (1, 2), ABC2News and WBAL and have also reported on this study.