University Honors

Undocumented undergraduate students face distinct challenges—legal and financial obstacles, insufficient assistance, and social stigma—that can adversely impact on their mental health. Services or programs for undocumented students at universities seek to alleviate these challenges, with studies indicating they enhance academic achievement and retention rates. This paper examines the relation between these services and students’ mental health. Specifically, it assesses students’ perceptions of the relation of their engagement with University of California Riverside’s (UCR) Undocumented Student Programs (USP) to mental health. It also examines the programming components that may be responsible for this relation. The sample consisted of 13 undocumented full-time-enrolled undergraduate students who have been at UCR for at least one year. Interviews were conducted online or in person using Zoom as an audio recorder. They lasted about one hour and covered the following topics: engagement in undocumented student programming, mental health, and perceptions of the relation between the two. Thematic analysis identified that undocumented students strongly associated USP programming with improved mental health, including decreased psychological distress and enhanced emotional well-being. Furthermore, three mechanisms for this relation were identified: enhanced self-efficacy, an increased sense of belonging, and reduced stigma. Survey data on self-reported last 30-day psychological distress and well-being indicated positive correlations between specific USP services and participants’ mental health. The findings underscore the value of institutional initiatives such as USP for more than academic outcomes; USP also has value for student mental health.