Tuition idea irks Tancredo
He says break for illegals' kids will aid 'lawbreakers'

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
August 4, 2007

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo has entered the dispute over how much college tuition students should pay if they are U.S. citizens but their parents are here illegally.

Tancredo said Friday that state higher education director David Skaggs "wants to give lawbreakers special preference over legal residents and citizens when it comes to a college education."

In remarks Thursday, Skaggs said he wants the attorney general to clarify state law as to whether Colorado residents who were born in the U.S. and are citizens should pay in-state tuition, even though their parents entered the country illegally.

Skaggs said that an otherwise eligible student shouldn't have to pay the more expensive non-resident tuition because his or her parents are here illegally.

Skaggs didn't address the issue of tuition for students who are in the U.S. illegally, or preferential admission policies.

In a news release Friday, Tancredo, who has built a presidential campaign around opposition to illegal immigration, demanded that Gov. Bill Ritter explain whether Skaggs was speaking for him.

In a statement, Ritter said, "Providing an affordable, accessible and high-quality education to U.S. citizens is something that's important to me. . . . Let's remember that we're talking about legal U.S. citizens, and they should have access to a higher education."

Skaggs said Friday the issue affects only about 75 students statewide. "It's useful for people to understand that there are not thousands of students or even hundreds of students" who fall in that category.

There is a constitutional issue as to whether Colorado can charge different rates of tuition to students who are otherwise the same, except for the legal status of their parents, Skaggs said.

Because the law is vague, colleges have different policies based on different legal advice.

The University of Colorado charges in-state tuition to citizen residents whose parents are here illegally. Metropolitan State College of Denver charges non-resident tuition.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said that the university's attorneys determined that in-state tuition is a benefit associated with the student's legal status, not the parents' status.

In his statement Thursday, Skaggs said he had asked the attorney general's office to clarify the issue. If citizens whose parents are here illegally don't qualify for in-state tuition, Skaggs said he'll ask the legislature to change the law.

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