Photo by James Keivom/New York Daily News
John Jay College student Angy Rivera, an undocumented collegian who doesn’t qualify for federal aid or loans, is going online to raise tuition money by selling $5 “education bracelets.”John Jay College student Angy Rivera doesn’t have a green card — and that means she doesn’t qualify for federal financial aid or loans to help with $2,565 in tuition a semester.
Like some other undocumented students around the country, she’s turned to the Internet to raise the money so she can stay in school.
Using Facebook or the website Chipin.com, they are coming out as undocumented and asking for help, often selling something homemade in exchange for donations.
“At 3 yrs old I became undocumented in the United States,” Rivera, 21, posted on her Chipin page, where she sells handmade “education bracelets” for $5.
“Often times it’s hard to ask for help, but now, I’m asking you to place a donation that will help me continue my education.”
Tuition hikes forced her to cut back to part-time. “The few scholarships that I did receive only paid off a semester or two,” she said.
The Colombian-born criminology student has raised only $60 of a $1,000 goal, but some of the money has come from perfect strangers.
New York allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates, but state and federal aid is off-limits. The Board of Regents is pushing to open New York’s Tuition Assistance Program to all students.
Students around the country are in similar straits and turning to Chipin.
In Florida, Juan Escalante, 22, raised $1,000 by sending, “I am undocumented” T-shirts to those who donated $25.
He was able to make his final tuition payment and graduate from Florida State University in Tallahassee last month.
Texas A&M student Jose Luis Zelaya crochets and sells beanie hats, and has gotten so good he thinks he can break the Guinness World Record for most stitches per minute.
He’s sold about $1,000 worth through a Facebook page.
When he was 13, Zelaya left a life on the streets in Honduras to join his mom in Houston.
Last month, he was chosen to give the invocation at his graduation. Now, he’s in an education master’s program.
“It is a pretty heavy burden, but I have been able to do it so far,” said Zelaya, 24. “A lot of people are impressed that I’m a guy and that I’m making beanies for a good cause.”
epearson@nydailynews.com
http://tourism9.com/
Like some other undocumented students around the country, she’s turned to the Internet to raise the money so she can stay in school.
Using Facebook or the website Chipin.com, they are coming out as undocumented and asking for help, often selling something homemade in exchange for donations.
“At 3 yrs old I became undocumented in the United States,” Rivera, 21, posted on her Chipin page, where she sells handmade “education bracelets” for $5.
“Often times it’s hard to ask for help, but now, I’m asking you to place a donation that will help me continue my education.”
Tuition hikes forced her to cut back to part-time. “The few scholarships that I did receive only paid off a semester or two,” she said.
The Colombian-born criminology student has raised only $60 of a $1,000 goal, but some of the money has come from perfect strangers.
New York allows undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates, but state and federal aid is off-limits. The Board of Regents is pushing to open New York’s Tuition Assistance Program to all students.
Students around the country are in similar straits and turning to Chipin.
In Florida, Juan Escalante, 22, raised $1,000 by sending, “I am undocumented” T-shirts to those who donated $25.
He was able to make his final tuition payment and graduate from Florida State University in Tallahassee last month.
Texas A&M student Jose Luis Zelaya crochets and sells beanie hats, and has gotten so good he thinks he can break the Guinness World Record for most stitches per minute.
He’s sold about $1,000 worth through a Facebook page.
When he was 13, Zelaya left a life on the streets in Honduras to join his mom in Houston.
Last month, he was chosen to give the invocation at his graduation. Now, he’s in an education master’s program.
“It is a pretty heavy burden, but I have been able to do it so far,” said Zelaya, 24. “A lot of people are impressed that I’m a guy and that I’m making beanies for a good cause.”
epearson@nydailynews.com
http://tourism9.com/
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