By Tori Smith
When Jose Pelayo was growing up, he used to cross the United States-Mexico border every day to get to school. He did this for nine years. When the parking lot where he got onto the bus was closed, Jose had to move to the United States and live with his aunt and uncle so he could continue to have access to education.
Migrants are people who move away from their place of usual residence, whether it’s inside a country or through an international border – either permanently or temporarily – according to the International Organization for Migration. A recent report from the USDE found that there were more than 60,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers in Arizona during the state’s peak farming season.
Early in his academic career, Pelayo participated in the Migrant Education Program and later participated in the College Assistance Migrant Program, or CAMP, at Arizona Western College (AWC). Through grants from The Burton Family Foundation, CAMP programs at AWC and Arizona State University (ASU) have received funding to provide academic support that supplement resources awarded by the United States Department of Education (USDE).
What is CAMP?
The College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) is a federally funded program that “assists students who are migratory or seasonal farmworkers (or immediate family members of such workers) enrolled in their first year of undergraduate studies at an institution of higher education.”
CAMP was first conceptualized in 1967 by Educational Systems Corporation, a private educational research company. The first grants awarded to the CAMP program were awarded to four universities: Adams State College, California State College, Pan American University, and Saint Edward’s University. The program was transferred to USDE in 1980 where it continues to operate as a program of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The CAMP program awards grants to nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education, which are eligible to apply for grants of up to $475,000 each. CAMP funding was increased to $7 million in 2000, and was again increased to $15 million in 2002.
CAMP at Arizona Western College
AWC is one of only two institutions of higher education in Arizona that host a CAMP program.
The program provides students with resources like health services, assistance with admissions, housing support for students, different types of counseling, recruitment services and more. Institutions participating in the CAMP program are also required to provide follow up services for students after they graduate. After their first year, CAMP students are provided referrals to on or off-campus resources and monitoring of their academic progress.
AWC’s CAMP program selects 40 students for the cohort annually all of which are required to live on-campus in a residential hall during their first year of college.
Pelayo said it’s one of the things about the program that stood out to him, saying that the residential component of the AWC program removes barriers for students who couldn’t drive to campus to participate in the program.
The program at AWC can be described in three program categories: academic, financial, and cultural.
Through the program's academic support services, students are provided with supplemental instruction tutoring (SI) where program staff is designated to attend classes with the cohort and hosts tutoring and study sessions outside of the class. An SI is required to attend both english and math classes.
AWC’s CAMP academic adviser, Rafael Encinas, is the student liaison for academic support and questions about their classes. “It’s like opening doors for people who never thought they could,” he said. “Some people need to be able to pull the door, or hold the ladder of success.”
Throughout the year, numerous events are held to provide cultural connection and support: Hispanic Heritage week, for instance, features dancing lessons, a salsa contest, and chalk murals. Students have also attended roundtable events with legislators, hosted Day of the Dead altars and a Catrinas and Catrines competition, and a Day of the Farmworker celebration.
Encinas said these events are intended to create a sense of culture within the CAMP cohort and give students space to plant their roots. These programs give first-year students an opportunity to experience many firsts surrounded by a supportive environment.
As a former CAMP student, Pelayo began working at the CAMP office as an administrative assistant in 2021, shortly after he graduated from AWC with his associates degree. He’s still there three years later, giving his time back to a program that once gave him many resources. There, he operates the front desk; welcoming incoming students, scheduling appointments, filing travel requests, and generally keeping the office space clean and organized.
The CAMP program was also very supportive when he decided to get his bachelor's degree, Pelayo said. The team allowed him to take classes in addition to working full-time while he was getting his bachelor’s in criminal justice from Arizona State University (ASU).
CAMP at Arizona State University
“We strive to be an extension of the family unit,” said Irma Carmona, the Program Director of the CAMP program at ASU.
Carmona said the ASU CAMP program aims to ensure students have access to different resources and understand that they’re not alone. The CAMP program accomplishes this goal through many channels, similar to the tools and resources provided by AWC.
For academic support, ASU’s CAMP program provides assistance to help students prepare for meetings with advisers and professors, educational workshops, tutoring, and career services. The program also facilitates a peer mentor group where a CAMP alumni student shares their experience with current CAMP students, guiding the current cohort through their experience and giving the program’s leadership feedback.
Like AWC, ASU’s CAMP program also hosts a variety of events, enhancing the social aspect of the program and cohort.
The program also brings in representatives from the university's financial aid office to help students understand what’s in their financial aid package and what it means. Carmona noted that it can be difficult to understand how to navigate the challenges of being a college student, especially for first-generation students.
Carmona said that it all comes back to access and getting each student to go as far as they can in their academic journey.
“Someone can be the smartest person in the world, but if they can’t get in the space, the person’s trajectory of life can be completely different than what they’re capable of,” Carmona said. “Exposure is very important, and that's why we do the work. To help somebody make it through with the least struggles possible.”
Carmona emphasized that she didn’t think the CAMP program would be able to do the work that they do without the external support of philanthropists and community organizations.
“I don’t think we would’ve been able to complete half of the things we’ve accomplished through the years,” she said.
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To find out more about AWC’s CAMP program, click here. To find out more about ASU’s CAMP program, click here.
Photo courtesy of Arizona State University.