Texas Ends Tuition Aid for Undocumented

Texas agreed Wednesday to the federal government’s demand to end the practice, which means that undocumented students in the state will no longer be eligible for in-state tuition. Texas’ 24-year-old legislation was abruptly repealed just hours after the U.S. Department of Justice declared it was suing the state for allowing undocumented students to receive reduced tuition at public universities.  U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor promptly sided with the federal government and ruled that the bill was illegal and ought to be halted, as requested by Texas. In 2001, Texas became the first state to allow illegal pupils to attend in-state schools.  For the first time in ten years, a bill to stop this practice made it out of a Texas Senate committee this year, but it stopped before it could reach the floor.  In addition to repealing the statute, Senate Bill 1798 would have required students to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition if their school found they had been misclassified.  If they hadn’t paid the difference within 30 days of being informed and if the diploma hadn’t already been awarded, it would have permitted universities to refuse to award them.

Source: News From the States