In-State Tuition for Immigrants
The In-State Tuition Bill (MA S.764/H.1230) is proposed legislation that would expand the number of children who would be eligible for in-state tuition rates in state colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It would open a financial door for any student who has attended a Massachusetts high school for at least three years and who has received a high school diploma or equivalent to attend college, including undocumented immigrants. Similar legislation is already in effect in New Mexico, Texas, Utah, California, New York, Illinois, Washington, Kansas, and Oklahoma. This is exciting for Massachusetts, which was more dependent on immigrant labor than any other state in the 1990s, including New York State. This legislation was vetoed by our governor in 2004 and is back again.
Federal law mandates that all children residing in the United States, legally or illegally (though immigration status is not usually that simple or clear cut), receive free public education through high school graduation. It is becoming more apparent as time passes that high school diplomas hold less and less power in the employment race and that college degrees are becoming the new standard for most non-trade jobs. “Illegal immigrant” children are currently able to access the public college/university system via out-of-state rates, which are usually three to five times higher than in-state rates and are therefore significantly less accessible, especially for children from families headed by unskilled workers.
If a child was brought to Massachusetts illegally by his or her parents at a young age and he or she has resided in Massachusetts for all of his or her remembered life, and said child has performed well enough in school to not only graduate but to be accepted into a state institution of higher learning, what harm is done by offering these children a chance to live up to their potentials without having to wait unknown years to complete a residency application procedure after their eighteenth birthday? If said residency process takes ten years, should we expect our students to wait until they are 28 years old and in the unskilled labor force for ten years before we allow them more opportunities for college?
The two smoothest paths to residency and immigration in the United States are sponsorship by family members and sponsorship by employment. Neither of these options is particularly helpful to most undocumented children, whose family members are also usually undocumented themselves and who would likely be eligible only for unskilled employment without a college degree, employment not likely to result in sponsorship. These children were brought to this country by their parents at a young age and usually have no say in the matter, nor are they often aware of their immigration status for most of their lives. As far as they know, they are residents of Massachusetts and until the immigration process is less cumbersome, they should be treated as such when it comes to education.
If some bright students in the state are now given more opportunities to advance their education, they can turn around and benefit the state by joining the skilled workforce after college graduation. And since they have to show proof of application for residency in order to receive the discounted tuition, perhaps they will have legal status after graduation in addition to a diploma. It sounds like a win-win situation to me.
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(Similar legislation, the DREAM Act, has been proposed Federally that would provide all immigrants access to in-state tuitions and would provide a fast-track to permanent residency status after six years – four years of college and two years of military service.)