Ric Elias, a native Puerto Rican who resides in the Charlotte area, renewed the Golden Door Scholars program earlier this month to financially support students without documentation to pay for their college tuition. 

Elias, the CEO of a technology company based in South Carolina, founded the program last fall.

The scholarship program sent 13 students, including valedictorians, artists, community leaders and athletes, to colleges such as N.C. State

Currently, a recipient of the Golden Door Scholars is enrolled in N.C. State’s engineering program.

According to the Golden Door Scholars’ website, out of an estimated 1.1 million students without documentation in high school, 65,000 students graduate from high school each year. Out of the 65,000, five to ten percent attend college.

“I’m optimistic. I think anyone who takes time to understand this issue will see how un-American it is to deny these kids an education,” Elias said in an interview with The News & Observer.

According to Assistant Vice Provost for Student Diversity Tracey Ray, students who immigrated to the U.S. illegally do not qualify for any form of financial aid, because it’s federally funded and N.C. State is a public university. Therefore, the University is not able to give aid to these students.

“It is a challenge when a student has done well in high school and this opportunity comes about to go to college and you can’t go to college,” Ray said. “Especially when you might have been brought here as a child and you have no way of controlling the fact that you’re undocumented and how you came here.”

According to Krista Domnick, director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, even though N.C. State doesn’t have a scholarship program similar to Golden Doors, if a student received that scholarship and wanted to use it at the University, they are welcome to.

Ray said several international students have private funders for tuition, and their families pay or they have a particular donor they are connected with that might sponsor or pay for their education. As a university, there is no connection with a student’s private donor.

According to The N&O, Elias said he hopes immigration reform would eventually make the program unnecessary, but he has been disappointed that Congress will not likely enact any reform soon.

“What we learned last year is that the need for exceptional students is bigger than we thought,” Elias told The N&O. “Time is of the essence. These kids’ lives can’t wait for the government to make a decision on immigration reform.”

In the first year of the scholarship program, 500 people applied, and the 13 that were granted a scholarship had an average GPA of 4.47, according to The N&O. 

The program is currently working to get more colleges and universities to offset costs for Golden Door Scholars students, waive or reduce application fees for students in the program, spread awareness about Golden Doors and invest in the program.

According to Golden Door Scholars’ wesbite, only 12 states allow certain students who have immigrated illegally to pay the same tuition as other students at colleges.

Schools that have worked with the program so far are Furman, Wake Forest, Elon, John C. Smith University, Davidson, High Point University and Belmont Abbey. They are giving tuition breaks to students selected for scholarships.