When Jesus Mendez Carbajal started his college education at San Diego Mesa College a little bit more tan three years ago, his parents, with a lot of sacrifice, had to pay for all expenses.

Since Mendez Carbajal is an undocumented student, he didn’t qualify for federal financial aid, which is only available to citizens and permanent residents.

Today, when the 21 year-old student has transferred to San Diego State University, where he is majoring in Chicana and Chicano Studies, he can pay for tuition thanks to state funds, and scholarships like the ones given by the Association of Raza Educators (ARE) San Diego.

The ARE San Diego scholarships are available only to students who don’t have immigration documents.

“This scholarship is a great economic resource”, said Mendez Carbajal, who crossed the border without inspection with her mother when he was five years old. “I hope that more members of our community can support this organization so that it can give out more scholarships to students who need them.”

This scholarship has helped a lot of Dreamers, youth like Mendez Carbajal who came to the United States without documents as children and who have grown up as Americans.

ARE San Diego knows how difficult it is for undocumented youth to pay for a college education. That’s the reason that ARE San Diego, which is formed by progressive teachers with a great social conscience, each year give out $1,000 scholarships exclusively to undocumented students. Those funds help pay for tuition, books, and parking permits.

The organization stated in its Facebook page that it recognizes that education is essential to the preservation of civil and human rights and it must be a basic human right of all people.

“We believe all students have the right to higher education,” said scholarship coordinator Mandy Matas. “We believe education should be for all students.”

This year, ARE San Diego will have a banquet and scholarship ceremony on Saturday, May 24th, at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, in Balboa Park. There, ARE will give out nine $1,000 scholarships to undocumented students, who might be high school seniors or current college students. Five of those scholarships are raised by ARE San Diego and the other four are donated by sister organizations and private donors.

“It is extremely difficult for these youth to pay for college,” said Matas, who teaches sixth grade in San Diego. “That is why they’re very grateful when they receive a scholarship.”

The event, titled 20 years in the Struggle, will serve as a celebration of two decades of ARE San Diego, founded in 1994.

This is the seventh year since the teacher organization hands out scholarships. The funds raised at the banquet are used for next year’s scholarships.

Matas said that this year the number of students applying for scholarships went from 60 in past years to about 30. The teacher said she didn’t know the exact reason, but added that it might be that the Deferred Action program, which grants temporary legal status to youth under 30, also opens more doors for government financial aid.

Matas said that the scholarship period opens in January, and the scholarships are awarded in May.

The ARE San Diego scholarship banquet, titled 20 Years in the Struggle, will be on Saturday, May 24th, at 6 p.m., at the Centro Cultural de la Raza, in Balboa Park. Tickets are $20.

For more information about the Association of Raza Educators, including its scholarship program, visit www.aresandiego.com.