In State Tuition Bill

When I was in Annapolis with other area United Methodists for our Advocacy Day, my group visited a couple senate offices to advocate for the in-state tuition bill which would offering in-state tuition to students who attended MD high schools and paid taxes for a length of time--a major population this would reach is the immigrant population.

One of the senator's aides expressed the senator's concerns that this might draw a flood of illegal immigrants to our state. So we said we would track down information about whether that actually happens. Check out this article with more information:

In-state tuition not a draw for many immigrants
By Raphael Lewis, Boston Globe Staff | November 9, 2005

As Beth Reilly summarizes,

Only Texas showed a significant increase in students; the other five states did not show a large increase. As mentioned in the article, the typical undocumented immigrant coming to the United States recently has been a single individual in search of work and not entire families with teenage children soon to apply to college.

Finally, for more information about the actual estimated financial impact of this bill, check out this report from the MD Dept. of Legislative Services.