Writing in the student newspaper at Tualatin High School in Oregon, Heidi Manning describes how college tuition has gone up so much faster than inflation, and Oregon’s rate of increasing tuition is among the highest in the counry: about 4.3 percent annually.
University of Maryland, College ParkAnd if students consider private universities or colleges outside their state of residence, tuition costs can triple — or worse. This has caused many students to consider community college or trade school, Heidi wrote. Another option is to attend in-state schools and at least save the out-of-state premium.
While some critics argue, based on credible audits and news reports, that universities, like the University of Maryland, College Park, may discriminate against in-state students because they bring in fewer dollars, in-state tuition is often all a student can afford.
But if that student is an undocumented immigrant, in-state tuition may no longer be an option, as the federal government is suing states to force those students to pay out-of-state tuition, even at schools in their state of residence.
The US Justice Department on Thursday announced that it was suing Oregon and three other states that enable noncitizen students who meet certain requirements access to in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, regardless of their immigration status, Maryland Matters reports.
“Over 30 years ago, Congress made clear that States cannot put illegal aliens before our Nation’s own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley E Woodward Jr said in a statement announcing the four additional lawsuits. “By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona are pushing citizens to the side and ignoring federal law. No more.”
Of course, it has been documented that universities, such as the University of Maryland, College Park, “push citizens [who are residents of the state] to the side” for reasons that have more to do with money than immigration status, yet there is no movement on the part of the Justice Department or any other federal agency to help those citizens. Instead we put our lawyers to work to make it more difficult for noncitizens to educate themselves within our shores.
Federal courts have already struck down state laws allowing access to in-state tuition rates for noncitizens in Texas, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, while Illinois is still fighting a lawsuit from the Justice Department over its policies. Lawsuits are pending in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
