Metropolitan State College of Denver will allow students who are Colorado residents and U.S. citizens but whose parents are illegal immigrants to be admitted provisionally as in-state students, the college’s president said Thursday in a letter to Metro State administrators.
The announcement comes as the Colorado Department of Higher Education awaits an opinion from the attorney general on eligibility for in- state tuition for such students.
“We’re talking about U.S. citizens,” said Metro State president Stephen Jordan. “I’m trying to accommodate these students as much as I can until we get a response from the attorney general.”
Jordan said he hopes the opinion comes before the fall semester, which begins Aug. 20.
If the attorney general’s opinion is not in line with Metro State’s provisional stance, students admitted with in-state tuition who do not meet criteria – their parents are not legal citizens or can’t prove they are – will be billed out-of-state rates, Jordan said. Out-of-state tuition is two-thirds higher than in-state tuition.
A 44-year-old law requires colleges to look at parents’ residency for in-state tuition but doesn’t specify whether parents have to be legal residents.
But House Bill 1023, passed in 2006, prohibits taxpayer money from benefiting illegal immigrants.
Colleges’ policies differ
Some universities’ interpretation of the measure has led them to allow students whose parents are illegal immigrants to pay in-state rates as long as the students met residency criteria.
Other universities, including Metro State, however, interpreted the policy differently and charged such students out-of- state rates.
Jordan said the college was abiding by state policy and until recently he was unaware that other universities interpreted the policy differently.
But he said that he, like many others, believes that all Colorado citizens should be treated the same, and if the opinion from the attorney general does not allow that, he will move forward by supporting legislation that changes the situation.
“I don’t think individual universities should decide what benefits residents should be receiving,” Jordan said.
One of the reasons David Skaggs, executive director at the Colorado Department of Higher Education, sought the attorney general’s opinion was to try to achieve a consistent policy, he said.
Skaggs said the current discrepancies are “an invitation to confusion and inequity.”
“I feel it’s important that we treat students who are U.S. citizens the same,” he said. “Their tuition shouldn’t be colored by their parents’ standing.”
Making a distinction between students whose parents are illegal immigrants and those whose parents are citizens is in violation of equal treatment under the 14th Amendment, Skaggs said.
In addition to the individuals affected, he said, the state benefits by educating its residents.
And that’s a huge economic benefit, Jordan said.
“The data is clear. The higher their educational attainment, the higher their personal income,” he said. “The presumption is that they will be long- term, gainful residents.”
Staff writer Simona Gallegos can be reached at 303-954-1555 or sgallegos@denverpost.com.
