Some argue that illegal immigrants should pay out-of-state tuition

Posted Saturday, Apr. 02, 2011

By Yamil Berard

More coveted slots could open up for Texans at state colleges and universities if illegal immigrants had to pay out-of-state tuition, some legislators argue.

"If you aren't a citizen, even though you may live here, you shouldn't receive a benefit that is reserved for legal citizens when tuition costs are as high as they currently are," state Rep. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.

Perry has introduced House Bill 1857, which would overturn a state law that classifies illegal immigrants as residents if they lived in Texas for three years before high school graduation.

But it's unclear how many Texas college students are illegal immigrants. "Foreign," "unknown," "nonresident," "affidavit": Texas has many ways to categorize students who aren't citizens or permanent residents. The various classifications make it difficult to pinpoint student status. The state comptroller has said the method of classifying illegal immigrants is "imprecise."

In 2009, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board counted about 14,000 noncitizen college students classified as Texas residents. That includes 3,744 at the state's public universities, and 10,535 at public community, technical and state colleges. The numbers, though, are for all students who have filed affidavits establishing residency for in-state rates, and some of the students are legal immigrants, the state has noted.

At Texas A&M, the board counted 48. But university records show it enrolled more than 600 students who were not U.S. citizens in 2009-10. The count could include legal and illegal immigrants.

Texas Tech estimated that it had almost 2,000 students of "unknown" residency status in the last few years. But its foreign students totaled only about 1,300.

The University of Texas at Arlington has the most affidavit students, at 536. Next is UT-Permian Basin, at 452, then UT-Tyler, at 443. Among other public universities, Tarleton State University has 114, UT-Dallas has 100, and the University of North Texas has 21. UT-Austin has 84.

Supreme Court rulings prohibit states from denying access to public education to illegal immigrant children living inside their boundaries. If Perry's bill becomes law, those students could be reclassified and charged out-of-state tuition

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