BUZZ
School policy gives preferential treatment to illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, department alleges
The U.S. Department of Justice sued Pennsylvania State University Thursday over its policy that allows some illegal immigrant students to qualify for in-state tuition.
The complaint states that the school has ignored federal law, which “prohibits illegal aliens from being eligible to receive postsecondary education benefits based on residence within a state if such benefits are denied to U.S. citizens residing in other states.”
Penn State’s policy allows illegal immigrant students to receive in-state tuition if they attended an accredited Pennsylvania high school for at least four years and either graduated or earned a Pennsylvania GED.
“Accordingly, under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, the Policy’s extension of eligibility for in-state tuition to illegal aliens is unconstitutional and must yield to federal law,” the complaint states.
It also notes that courts in other states, including Kansas, Texas, Illinois, and Nebraska, have struck down similar policies.
“The Department of Justice today continues its efforts to ensure that no state law or university policy gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens,” Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said, according to a news release from the department.
“Congress long ago made clear that states, through their public universities, cannot give reduced tuition to illegal aliens not available to all Americans,” he said.
The department has filed a total of 27 lawsuits against these in-state tuition policies across the country.
Earlier this year, it targeted New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon, and Washington, The College Fix previously reported.
While the exact number of illegal immigrants who receive in-state tuition in the U.S. is unclear, one lawsuit cites research by the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting. It found that “in the Fall 2025 semester, at least 720 illegal aliens had received in-state tuition” in the state, a difference of about $24,000 compared to the out-of-state price.
The department has been successful in several cases thus far, with the exception of Minnesota.
A judge dismissed the federal government’s lawsuit against the state in March, ruling that the Justice Department misinterpreted the federal law.
The judge also ruled that the state bases eligibility on high school graduation, not “on the basis of residence,” according to a case tracker at Higher Ed Immigration Portal.
