From today’s Chronicle of Higher Education:
Out-of-state students at California’s public colleges filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that challenges a state law allowing some illegal immigrants to pay lower in-state tuition rates….
Opponents of the California law argue in their lawsuit that the policy violates the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as a 1996 federal immigration law. A provision of that law states that immigrants who are not legally in the United States cannot be eligible, based on their residence in a state, for “any postsecondary benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit….”
California officials and others who defend the tuition policy believe that it does not violate the federal law because it bases eligibility for in-state tuition rates on high-school attendance and graduation, not residence in the state.
“We are confident that we are in compliance with federal law,” said Ravi Poorsina, a spokeswoman for the University of California system….
Before the current law was enacted, Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, vetoed a different version of the legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates if they could prove that they had lived in California for at least three years. In rejecting that measure, Mr. Davis cited concerns about whether it would have violated the 1996 federal immigration law.
UPDATE [17 Dec.]
See this post on RightOnTheLeftCoast for a thoughtful concern about this lawsuit.
This is a clear case of legal disability being placed on citizens relative to foreign criminals. It indicates a brazen enthusiasm on the part of offcialdom and professoriate for the increase of aggression on the net taxpayer, to whom the concept of equality before the law evidently is not meant to apply; and for the elevation of foreign crimials to privileged status.
UC is going to have to make some rather rapid changes to its website, I think. I find under “Costs” at
http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/payingforuc/costs.html
Most UC students receive some financial assistance to help cover the costs associated with attending. The chart below provides estimates of typical costs before financial aid for the current academic year (three quarters or two semesters) for a California resident who lives in UC housing. Non
Michelle – Great catch! And great question!
John,
Of course it may be that they somewhere define a “California resident student” as one with three years of study in a CA high school and a diploma. But if that’s the case, the material on the site is at least a little misleading.
And now I’m wondering whether any homeschooled CA student is eligible for in-state tuition, undocumented or not.
Hmmm . . . just downloaded the 2006-07 UC application. Interesting. Starting with the fact that entering an email address that you check frequently is mandatory now. (“Campuses use e-mail to send critical, time-sensitive correspondence to applicants. You must provide an e-mail address that you check regularly and plan to keep until you enroll in college.”) Now there is one for Cobra: You can’t even apply to the University of California unless you own a computer and have at least a dialup account.
Later questions:
“Have you lived in California for at least the last 12 months?” [If “yes,” how long exactly?] “Is your current/most recent school a California high school, or have you attended a California high school for two or more years?”
Then we have place and date of birth, citizenship, “Country of Permanent Residence,” and then this:
“Indicate your immigration status as of the date you submit this application.”
The options [for noncitizens] are “Immigrant/U.S. Permanent Resident,” “Refugee,” and “Nonimmigrant.” The last category leads to a question about what visas you hold or “plan to apply” for. I am assuming that that’s the box an undocumented alien is supposed to check, but they couldn’t have obfuscated more with O. J. Simpson’s “Dream Team” on hand, could they?
As for homeschooling, all I can say is that you wouldn’t get the impression from this application that homeschooled students need apply, or even can. Most of it is taken up with slots in which you insert the name(s) of your high school(s) and what courses you took, and what grades you got. I couldn’t find anything in the document even alluding to the possibility that someone would dare to apply to UC without having gone to high school. And yet there must be some, surely.
‘That doesn’t say “student who attended and was graduated from a CA high school”; it says “California resident.”‘
When I applied to UT they were limited to ‘texas resident’ but it didn’t say what that meant either.
The other question to ask is whose identify and SSN are those illegal aliens who claim to be “California Residents” using. Are they just blatantly fake SSN or are they stolen SSN’s from legal residents?
This could create an interesting situation if the lawsuit is successful; you have to live in a school district to attend public schools. I wonder if the court decision in this case (especially if it goes against UC) could be used in some way regarding eligibility of children to attend public schools.