Sleepless nights, juggling one or more jobs while attending classes and the fear of deportation; these are the challenges an undocumented NIU student faces for wanting to pursue a college degree.

“There are times when I’m in class and I’m just worrying about how I need to get to work,” said an undocumented student who asked to remain unidentified. “ [I think about how] I need to put in these many hours so I can afford to pay my tuition bill, or I need to help my family out with certain bills…”

Undocumented students want the ACCESS bill to pass because they are burdened by the challenges associated with pursuing a higher education amid their undocumented status. The ACCESS bill would allow eligible undocumented students to receive institutional financial aid funds from Illinois public universities, according to the Illinois Student Accesss’ website.

While most students deal with various stressors during college, undocumented students face unusually high levels of stress and anxiety.

Among undocumented students, 28.5 percent of males and 36.7 percent of females reported levels of anxiety above the clinical cut-off for generalized anxiety disorder, according to a January 2015 study conducted by the Institute for Immigration, Globalization and Education at the University of California at Los Angeles. These figures are higher than the percentages reported by the general population with 4 percent for males and 9 percent for females, according to the study.

The elevated anxiety levels can be attributed to a variety of factors. Many undocumented students fear deportation, struggle with finding academic advisers who can properly guide them through the challenges they face and can have difficulty obtaining employment without a Social Security number, according to NIU’s “Working with Undocumented Students” resource guide on its website.

Possibly the most challenging obstacle undocumented students face is trying to secure funding for college. Undocumented students are not eligible to receive financial aid at the state or federal level.

“I’m at work thinking ‘I need to finish this assignment,’ or ‘I need to read this for class and I don’t know when I’m gonna get some sleep’. Our anxiety levels are through the roof because there are so many things on our plate.”, said the student.

The student is a board member of DREAM Action NIU. DREAM Action NIU is a student organization that advocates for the undocumented community, particularly the undocumented students at NIU.

One of the reasons I picked NIU is because it has lower tuition compared to other Illinois universities. Despite the lower tuition, I still depend on financial aid to help offset some of the costs. If financial aid was not available, I would not be able to attend college now.

“We’re all the same here,” said Roberto Flores, president of NIU’s Latino Student Alliance. “We all just wanna graduate and be a successful person in life. For [undocumented students] to have more obstacles in place, it’s just a little bit tougher for them.”

Flores encourages students to get involved by supporting the ACCESS bill. He said if enough students support the bill by reaching out to legislators indicating their support of it, it could help get the bill passed.

The ACCESS bill would not have a financial impact on our state budget or require any additional funds to be allocated, according to the Illinois Student Access’ website. The bill would provide undocumented students the opportunity to apply for the same financial aid the rest of us take for granted. However, the bill would not allow undocumented students to qualify for the Monetary Award Program grant.

Another unnecessary stressor for undocumented students was this year’s presidential election, particularly President-elect Donald Trump’s vow to deport all undocumented immigrants. The unidentified student said there was a sense of unease attending classes the day after the election.

“We showed up to class the day after wondering who in this room voted for him [because he vowed to deport undocumented immigrants] or how would they feel if they knew that I was undocumented,” said the student. “I think that just causes students to want to hide their status even more.”

No student should have to live in perpetual fear or anxiety outside of the usual stressors such as midterms or finals week.

I applaud undocumented students who are doing whatever they can to put themselves through school.

The financial struggle of having to incur these expenses is something I can relate to. I cannot, however, relate to how difficult it must be trying to come up with the money to pay for these expenses up front. No student should have to incur these struggles for wanting to further his or her education.

“I think that everybody living in the country deserves an equal chance at success,” Flores said.

Higher education, and the opportunity to receive financial aid to pay for it, should be a right afforded to all. Attend a meeting, or contact DREAM Action NIU to learn more about the challenges undocumented students face.