A prominent group of more than 5,000 colleges and universities is supporting legislation that would offer some undocumented youths a path to citizenship through college or the military.

The College Board, best known for the SAT and advanced placement tests it administers, is stepping into the contentious issue for the first time.

The bill the College Board is supporting, known as the Dream Act, would allow students who illegally entered the U.S. when they were 15 or younger to apply for conditional legal status if they have lived in the country for five or more years and graduated from high school or earned a GED. If they then attended college or served in the military for two or more years, they could be granted full citizenship.

Conditional legal status could make the immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition, depending on local laws, and would allow them to compete for some forms of federal financial assistance. A 2007 UCLA report estimated that 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools every year.

The College Board̢۪s trustees have voted unanimously to support the Dream Act, said James Montoya, a vice president of the College Board.

“These are students who have gone through our K-12 system and have achieved in a very high manner,â€Â Montoya said.

But Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the Dream Act allows illegal immigrants to take scholarship opportunities away from native U.S. residents.

“If you ask any illegal alien why they came to America, the answer, invariably is ‘Well, I wanted to do better for my family,’ and this gives them precisely what they broke the law to achieve,â€Â Mehlman said.

The Senate voted on the Dream Act in 2007, winning a majority but lacking the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster. The measure was then folded into more comprehensive immigration legislation, which died. It was reintroduced in the House and Senate last month.

By Ben Meyerson / McClatchy Tribune