Running Head: Tuition for All

Tuition for All: Allowing unauthorized immigrants students to receive in-state tuition
Jacinta Luster
Georgia Southern University
EDLD 8431

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The topic of tuition has been growing conversational piece for people in higher
education, parents, and students alike. Tuition has been increasing over the past years and
students and parents are asking the same question, How will I pay for this? They are also
asking, Is this worth it because I will be in debt when I graduate. All these questions are valid
and there are no true answers to these questions, yet and still students stress and strive to be at
the top of their class so that they are awarded and admitted to their top choice school after
graduating high school. Going to College is seen as a privilege and sometimes a right a passage
for students who are considered legacy at their parents alma maters. We understand that this
higher education dream can be costly; and if you are unable to pay out of pocket, you will need
some form of financial aid to get you through the next five years of your life.
In most states, residents are eligible for some scholarships through the institution and
some states offer a state scholarship that is accessible for all students based of certain criteria.
One of the most well-known is the HOPE scholarship in Georgia. According to the Georgia
Student finance Commission, students are eligible for the scholarship if theyre a recent graduate
from a Georgia high school and theyve lived or are domicile for 12 or more consecutive months.
These types of scholarships is one of the most beneficial scholarships to help students in Georgia
public and private schools pay for the ever growing tuition cost and fees that college students are
incurring to receive a degree. Right now, around 1.4 million students attending GA College and
universities and technical colleges are awarded some form of hope aid. With this large number in
mind, one issue still arises to this day, HOPE is not awarded to all students. From their
requirements you must be considered a resident of Georgia and you have to consider a resident
of GA. In 2008, students are required to prove residency in the state of Georgia by presenting a
GA drivers license, a U.S. passport or an original birth certificate to allow them to claim instate

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tuition. This policy took place after a situation with a KSU student by the name of Jessica Colotl,
an undocumented student, was arrested at the University after driving illegal with an expired
license. This situation brought the attention to students who were born in the United States but
their parents are immigrants that traveled to the United States and took up residency in the states
illegal or have not attempted to gain citizenship in the U.S. For this commentary, I will not go
into a long debate nor am I an expert on the subject of citizenship so I will try to keep this
simple.
All over the U.S., students that are considered undocumented have been fighting to
overturn laws that prevent them from getting the same quality of education as their peers. These
students exceling in their GPA, test scores and giving back to their community just like everyone
else and after advising them to work toward this higher education goals by signing up for AP and
Honors courses, standardized test and more. The issues when it comes to classify this student
who has lived in this particular state all of their lives, from K-12 and we pull the rug out from
under them and say you are not a resident of this state so you are required to pay out of state
tuition. For most Latino students, they are first generation and they are going through this college
experience alone. When we classify these students out-of-state this message says you are not
allowed the same rights, specifically a college education that will place you in a better financial
situation to better yourself and give back to your family.
In the 1982 case of Toll v. Morena, The court affirmed the lower court's decision that
petitioner state university's policy barring respondents, nonimmigrant aliens with G-4 visas, from
acquiring in-state status violated the Supremacy Clause. The court noted that the federal
government admitted G-4 aliens into the country on terms that permitted them to establish
domicile in the United States; thus, a state could not prevent a G-4 alien from acquiring domicile

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(lawschoolcasebreiefs,2013). Also during 1982, another case Plyler V. Doe, focusing on k-12
speaks to children with Alien Parents and says that these students have constitutional right to
attend a public school and those children were protected under the 14th amendment. This
amendment grants citizenship for all persons born or naturalized in the United States and forbids
states from denying any person life, liberty, or property without due process or law or to deny to
any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
What is the best solution to help these students achieve their academic goals? One of the
great ways for students to cut down on cost is encouraging undocumented students to complete
dual enrollment courses while theyre still in high school. At this time, there are only 20 States
that offer in-state tuition to unauthorized immigrants students by meeting certain criteria. The
students are required to graduate from their state high school, two to three years of residency, and
they must apply to a state college or university.
Unfortunately, there will always be backlash to issues. In 2008 an out of state student brought a
claim against Kansas district because they were denied in-state tuition although students that
were unauthorized immigrants students were granted in-state benefits when they are not granted
in-state tuition. Once again, we have to look at the laws and what would constitute an in-state
student. If the institution is following the restriction of what would allow a student instate tuition
then this student case should not state up in the courts because the laws and restriction for
unauthorized immigrants students are stricter than a student just seeking to a degree and return
back home after graduation. The court ruling for this case dismissed due to the fact there was no
evidence to stand on.
Although higher education is not a fundamental right, we dont want to make this access so hard

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that students will completely give up on their dreams. This is especially true for Latino students
who are contributing members to our society.

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References

Law School Case Briefs. 2013. Toll V. Morena. Retrieved from

http://www.lawschoolcasebriefs.net/2013/11/toll-v-moreno-case-brief.html
National Conference of State Legislature. 2014. In-state Tuition and Unauthorized Immigrant
students. Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org/research/immigration/in-state-tuition-andunauthorized-immigrants.aspx