The Indiana state legislature is considering a bill that would permit students who do not have legal residence in the United States to qualify for in-state tuition costs, according to the bill’s text.
Senate Bill 135 would extend in-state tuition costs to illegal immigrants who attended Indiana schools for four years and graduated with or received the equivalent of a high school diploma. The bill is a bipartisan effort sponsored by Republican state Sens. Blake Doriot and Linda Rogers and Democratic state Sen. David Niezgodski, and would take effect July 2023. (RELATED: Arizona Voters Give Illegal Migrants Cheaper College Tuition)
It would also require students to file an affidavit with their college promising to apply for legal status once eligible, according to its text.
“This problem has come to us… not from what the state of Indiana has done, but what the federal government has failed to do. We haven’t been able to get together and find a clean pathway to citizenship,” Doriot said, according to Chalkbeat Indiana. “And we are addressing children, young adults, who want to further themselves and they’re here, and they can’t go home.”
Niezgodski told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the bill is “the right thing to do.”
“SB 135 provides students attaining legal status the opportunity to attend college and build a life in the place they already call home. These folks are already Hoosiers—they have roots in our communities and neighborhoods and should be given the same opportunities and advantages as any other student,” he said. “We should be guaranteeing affordability and access for all Hoosiers, especially given Indiana’s workforce and post-secondary attainment crisis.”
Students and supporters of DACA rally in downtown Los Angeles, California on November 12, 2019 as the US Supreme Court hears arguments to make a decision regarding the future of “Dreamers” as beneficiaries of DACA(Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) are known. (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)
The average in-state tuition cost in Indiana is $6,710, according to College Tuition Compare. Comparably, the average out-of-state tuition cost is $20,084.
Indiana would become only the latest state to lower tuition costs for illegal immigrants if the bill becomes law. Arizona voters approved measure to allow illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition and joined 22 other states and Washington, D.C. which enforce such policies, Higher Ed Immigration Portal reports.
There were no amendments added during Wednesday’s hearing and the bill will be taken up by committee next week, Chalkboard Indiana reported.
Doriot and Rogers did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.