As professors of both the natural and social sciences with more than 50 years of service to the state of Connecticut between us, we know first-hand the benefits of a college degree. A college education enables young people in our community to grow, thrive and blossom into thoughtful, resourceful and responsible adults with much to contribute to our state and the nation.

Attending college is tough for all students. For undocumented immigrant students, many of whom have lived in our state since they were toddlers and know no other home, the challenges often prevent them from attending college at all. They are not eligible for federal or state aid, or for most private scholarships, and must navigate a variety of financial, family, cultural, linguistic, psychological and other barriers.

Remarkably, we have witnessed first-hand, time and time again, that because of their focus, determination and will to survive, when given access to higher education, undocumented students succeed in significant ways: They disproportionately graduate at the top of their class; they often go on to graduate school at Ivy League institutions; and, more generally, they give back to Connecticut in profound ways.

In order to help more students attend college at Western Connecticut State University, and at all of our state public colleges and universities, a portion of all tuition paid by students is set aside to serve as Institutional Aid for students who have financial need. This Institutional Aid is student-generated: that means it is funded by tuition dollars that all students (including undocumented students) pay — it is not tax or state funded.

Immigrant students contribute to these funds by paying tuition, but they do not have access to the very pool of aid they help fund. This flaw in our system means that our most vulnerable students, the students who most need this help, are shut out from any help to attend school. It is also inherently unfair — if you pay into this pool of funds, you should have access to it. It’s common sense.

HB 5301 would fix this injustice by allowing all Connecticut students to apply for the Institutional Aid that they fund, regardless of immigration status. Because undocumented students already pay into the system, this would cost taxpayers nothing, according to the non-partisan Fiscal Analysis Office.

In fact, giving undocumented students access to Institutional Aid would be an investment for the state: The non-partisan Institute on Taxation Policy estimates that undocumented individuals in Connecticut currently pay more than $136 million in taxes. Moreover, according to the RAND Corporation, a college degree raises average lifetime tax contribution by $68,000. In the long term, the higher incomes of these students will lead to increased tax revenues and lower expenditures on state programs.

HB 5031 gives not just our students hope, it gives our communities in Connecticut hope. Otherwise, by not allowing Institutional Aid access to students we are contributing to the larger wedge between the haves and the have nots in our state. This wedge of inequality has potentially severe long-term negative effects, inhibiting prosperity. HB 5031 can assist us in averting these institutionalized inequalities.

Moreover, we need these students. Enrollment in our state public colleges and universities has been declining at a disturbing rate for several years now. According to a 2017 report by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education, Connecticut is expected to have the nation’s second-largest decline in public high school students over the next 10 years, a total of 14.2 percent. This means that about 2,100 fewer students will be graduating from our high schools each year. This will have drastic effects on enrollment at our public colleges and universities.

Every year, our university and many others are forced to cancel classes because not enough students enroll. Any proposal that enables more students to enroll in our schools will represent a net revenue increase for our schools. This is why for the last three years, officials at the University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) System, and the Board of Regents of Higher Education have supported similar legislation to HB 5301.

This is not a partisan issue. In today’s climate, we know that anything with immigration can get heated and political quickly, but equalizing access to institutional aid is an issue of education. That is why for the last three years, similar proposals have passed the higher education committee with bipartisan support.

As educators, we want our students to fulfill their college dreams, and that is why we support the current proposal, HB 5031 “An Act Equalizing Access to Institutional Aid.” We are urging state lawmakers to support this bill as well. Now is the time for our state legislators to support HB 5031: our students, our schools, and our states can no longer wait. When Connecticut students prosper, Connecticut prospers.

Please note that this letter reflects the personal views of the authors and is NOT an endorsement of HB 5031 by Western Connecticut State University.

Carina A. Bandhauer is a sociology professor at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury and Josephine S. Hamer is the interim dean at the Macricostas School of Arts & Sciences at Western.