Pennsylvania State University gives illegal aliens in-state tuition, while charging legal aliens who come here lawfully on student visas far more — even more in tuition than out-of-state students pay, reports Campus Reform:
Amidst a budget crisis, Pennsylvania State University offers in-state tuition rates to qualifying illegal immigrants while American citizens across the country are charged out-of-state tuition.
An admissions page on the university’s website states that “Undocumented students, with or without DACA, can be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet Penn State’s residency requirements.”
Penn State’s tuition page shows that while tuition and fees amount to $19,284 for Pennsylvania residents, out-of-state students are paying more than double this amount, at $38,651.
Moreover, foreign students who legally immigrated to the United States to study at Penn State paid more than even out-of-state students, as tuition and fees amounted to $40,151.
Anthony Ditizio, a 2022 graduate of Penn State, told Campus Reform that “it isn’t fair that American Citizens from out-of-state are having to pay more for tuition than some illegal immigrants,” and that “learning about this was definitely a bit of a shock.”
While Ditizio understands “what the school is going for,” he stated that American citizens “deserve to have a chance at an affordable education, especially if their tax dollars have gone to funding the American school system.”
Penn State’s current budget crisis –– despite being one of the most expensive public universities in the nation –– has been highlighted in theWall Street Journal …. “Total tuition and fee revenue from both undergraduate and graduate students increased 72% over the past two decades, far faster than enrollment grew,” the article noted.
Earlier this year, Campus Reform reported that Penn State’s budget plan, which prioritized supporting institutional leadership needs, included “expanding Penn State’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) capacities.”
Penn State’s practice reflects a growing stance in higher education, even though it appears to violate federal law.
Minnesota has now joined other states like Washington State and California in giving tuition discounts to illegal aliens. There benefits are often not available to legal aliens in the country lawfully, such as the children of H1-B visa holders who are legally working for American companies.
Under recent legislation passed largely along party lines by Minnesota’s state legislature, illegal immigrants will be exempt from having to pay college tuition if their families are below a certain household income level.
The “North Star Promise” program “will create a tuition and fee-free pathway to higher education for eligible Minnesota residents at eligible institutions as a ‘last-dollar’ program by covering the balance of tuition and fees remaining after other scholarships, grants, stipends and tuition waivers have been applied,” says the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.
That includes illegal aliens who meet certain criteria, according to the state education department. The legislation goes into effect in fall 2024. A family’s “Adjusted Gross Income” must be “below $80,000,” according to MOHE.
This legislation violates a federal law that is never enforced by the Justice Department. Federal law mandates that government entities that give tuition discounts to illegal immigrants must also give the same discount to out-of-state residents. However, this program is only open to Minnesota residents, not out-of-state residents.
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Responsibility Act of 1996 mandates that “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit” unless the same benefits are provided to U.S. citizens.
However, the Justice Department never enforced this requirement against illegal aliens getting in-state tuition, not even under President Trump. “If the DOJ actually enforced the law those states would lose, they’d be forced to either stop providing in-state tuition to illegal immigrants or get rid of increased tuition for U.S. citizens,” says former Federal Elections Commissioner Hans Von Spakovsky.
Not only does the Justice Department not enforce this law, courts have ruled that out-of-state residents cannot sue to enforce it, either, because the federal law does not explicitly create a private right of action to sue for violations of it, so those courts say only the federal government can enforce it — which it seems not inclined to do.
Other states are also working to expand enrollment of illegal immigrants in state colleges, such as by expanding their access to campus jobs that will enable them to earn enough to pay for living expenses. The University of California system recently announced it would hire illegal immigrants for campus jobs, despite federal employment laws that may prohibit that.
