Students dispute tuition cost for illegal immigrants
By Megan Bakker
The Collegian
In December of 2005, 42 out-of-state students in Yolo County filed a lawsuit against the University of California, claiming that public universities who offer in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants must also provide that discount to out-of-state students.
The discount is substantial – there’s a $17,000 difference between resident and out-of-state tuition rates in the University of California system, according to the USA Today. The CSU system has a similar policy regarding illegal immigrants with resident status. Like the UC system, they allow students to pay in-state tuition, saving them an extra $10,000 in out-of-state fees.
The lawsuit applies only to the UC system, and the impact on Fresno State is unclear. Only 3 percent of Fresno State students are from out of state. Additionally, the CSU system doesn’t record how many students take advantage of the law to receive discounts, and has no way of knowing how many students taking advantage of it are actually illegal immigrants.
The UC system estimates that 1,300 of its 208,000 students received the tuition break in 2004-2005, but that 70 percent of them were American citizens in unique living circumstances. This includes students who attended boarding school in California despite their parents having a legal address in another state.
According to California law AB 540, passed in 2001, illegal immigrants qualify for the tuition discount under certain circumstances. If they have attended high school in California for at least three years, graduated, and signed a waiver saying they’ve applied for US citizenship.
“I could understand if they have a Visa, or are in the process of applying,” student Jennifer Coffen said, on whether or not illegal immigrants should receive the tuition discount.
John Waayers of the University Budget Office, said Fresno State uses residency as the determining factor.
“If they’re [illegal immigrants] living in California, they don’t have to pay non-resident tuition,” Waayer said.
He went on to explain that it takes one year of living in California to establish residency, after which any out-of-state students pay the reduced in-state tuition rates.
The out-of-state students cite a federal provision passed in 1998 that bars any illegal immigrants from post-secondary education benefit unless U.S. citizens are offered the same benefit. The students interpret this to mean that as long as California schools offer tuition discounts to undocumented immigrants, out-of-state students should receive the same discount without having to establish residency. While the damages are unspecified, the students are asking for a refund of all out-of-state tuition fees paid since AB 540 was passed, an amount which easily reaches millions of dollars.
“I think everyone should pay the same,” student Christine Seeman said, echoing the sentiments other students.
“People living in the United States should get first dibs,” Coffen said, regarding tuition rates.
Nine other states besides California provide similar tuition breaks to illegal immigrants, none of which give the discount to out-of-state students. A similar lawsuit was brought up in Kansas and was dismissed over the summer by a federal district court judge. The case is still under appeal.
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