Texas Colleges in Legal Limbo Over Tuition for Undocumented Students

Texas public colleges are facing pressure and legal uncertainty after being directed to identify undocumented students and begin charging them out-of-state tuition. The directive follows a federal court ruling earlier this month that blocked the Texas Dream Act, a 2001 law that allowed certain undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates. Without concrete guidance from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, colleges must now determine how they can legally identify students without violating federal privacy laws or their own admissions policies.

For many institutions, the lack of a standardized method to verify immigration status is a logistical nightmare. Most universities do not collect this information during admissions, and federal law restricts the sharing of student data, including immigration status, with federal authorities, as reported by The Texas Tribune.

It’s unclear if any Texas university already knows which of its students are undocumented. Students do not have to provide proof of citizenship or disclose their Social Security number to apply for college.

“There is not a simple way for an institution to determine if a person is undocumented,” said Melanie Gottlieb, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, raising concerns about fairness, accuracy, and student rights. Gottlieb said getting information from students about their immigration status will likely change the landscape of applying to college.

Students are now grappling with the implications of the decision, many uncertain about whether they can afford to return to school in the fall. Those affected are often long-term Texas residents, raised and educated in the state, who suddenly find themselves priced out of the education system. 

“For some students, they might be thinking, ‘Am I going to have to totally just switch schools or drop out?’” stated Kasey Corpus, a policy manager with Young Invincibles. The financial gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition can be thousands of dollars, a cost many undocumented students cannot bear.

Miriam Feldblum of the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration emphasized that due process must be respected, especially as some students’ immigration statuses may have changed. Still, without coordinated implementation or protections in place, many students remain in limbo, unsure of their standing, their rights, or whether their educational futures in Texas remain possible.