Are dreams contagious? Peer effects of undocumented college students

As a result of systemic barriers, undocumented immigrants are more likely to enroll in community colleges and to enter these institutions with higher prior academic achievement than their peers. I explore the potential spillover benefits of this hyperselection on other students using data from a large community college system and two identification strategies. Fixed effects models show the share of undocumented students in a course is associated with improved outcomes among U.S. citizen students. This peer effect declines after the California DREAM Act policy broadened college access and reduced hyperselection among the undocumented student population.