U-M may soon give in-state tuition rates to undocumented students


The policy being voted on Thursday says students will qualify for in-state tuition if they attend a Michigan middle school for two years and a Michigan high school for at least three years before graduating, as long as they start their U-M education within 28 months of graduation. / Jarrad Henderson/Detroit Free Press

By David Jesse
Detroit Free Press Education Writer

The University of Michigan is expected to begin offering in-state tuition to undocumented students who can prove they graduated from a Michigan high school and attended at least some middle and high school in the state.

The new policy, part of a sweeping overhaul of who is considered an in-state student, will be voted on Thursday by the university’s Board of Regents. The new proposal also will give in-state tuition to any military member currently serving or honorably discharged, regardless of where the person lives.

An average in-state student at U-M will pay $13,142 for tuition this coming school year. That more than triples, to $40,392, for out-of-state students.

“We believe these changes create a clearer path to in-state tuition for several groups of future students, including military veterans and undocumented students who have made Michigan their home,” Provost Martha Pollack said in a press release.

The move comes after months of protests by students seeking a change in U-M’s policy. In the spring, eight students were arrested when they sat down in a busy Ann Arbor intersection in the middle of campus and refused to leave in protest of the policy.

The policy being voted on Thursday says students will qualify for in-state tuition if they attend a Michigan middle school for two years and a Michigan high school for at least three years before graduating, as long as they start their U-M education within 28 months of graduation.

Each public university in the state sets its own policy on the matter. Most charge out-of-state tuition to undocumented students.

Western Michigan University offers in-state tuition rates with proof that the person lives in Michigan. Wayne State University doesn’t ask for citizenship documentation. Saginaw Valley State University allows its president to approve waivers and allow migrant workers’ children to receive in-state tuition.

The issue is fraught with political overtones.

Democrats, including President Barack Obama, have pushed for the passage of the DREAM Act, which would offer permanent resident status to undocumented high school graduates who enlist in the military or attend college.

Many Republicans argue students who are in the U.S. illegally shouldn’t get the same perks as U.S. citizens.

The U-M Board of Regents is made up of five Democrats and two Republicans.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com

http://www.freep.com/article/20130715/NEWS06/130715018/University-Michigan-may-soon-give-state-tuition-rates-undocumented-students