Herring: Children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition
http://www.insidenova.com/news/loudoun/herring-children-of-illegal-immigrants-eligible-for-in-state-tuition/article_34418e2c-22ba-5b48-b7d8-871ac1fe9260.html
Some immigrant students who were brought to the country as children can qualify for in-state tuition to Virginia colleges and universities, Attorney General Mark Herring (D) announced Tuesday.
In a letter sent to the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia, the presidents of Virginia's colleges and universities, and the chancellor of the Virginia Community College system, Herring advised that, under current state law, Virginia students who are lawfully present in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program qualify for in-state tuition, provided they meet Virginia's domicile requirements.
Herring concluded that state law allows these students, often called “DREAMers,” to qualify for in-state tuition rates, which are often more than half the cost of out of state tuition.
“These DREAMers are already Virginians in some very important ways. In most cases they were raised here, they graduated from Virginia schools, and they have known no home but Virginia,” Herring said in a prepared statement. “They might be the valedictorian or salutatorian of their high school, but because they were brought here as children many years ago, an affordable education remains out of their reach. Instead of punishing and placing limits on these smart, talented, hard-working young people, Virginia should extend them an opportunity for an affordable education. It's what the law requires, it makes economic sense for Virginia, and it's the right thing to do.”
In order to qualify for in-state tuition, these students will have to satisfy several requirements, including being approved for DACA status and gaining admission into a Virginia college or university. (View the full list of requirements here.) As of December 2013, about 8,100 young people in Virginia have had their applications for DACA approved.
Herring’s announcement gained mixed reviews from Republicans, with House Speaker William Howell (R-28) and others calling it another move by Herring to ignore the laws put in place by the General Assembly. Herring thrust Virginia into the national spotlight just two weeks after he was sworn in when he announced he would not defend the commonwealth’s ban on same sex marriage.
“We are deeply concerned by the Attorney General's actions today and what appears to be a continued willingness to ignore and circumvent the duly-adopted laws of the Commonwealth,” Howell said of Herring’s advisement on in-state tuition.
But Del. Tom Rust (R-87), who chairs the House Higher Education Subcommittee, sent a statement in support of Herring’s actions. The longtime delegate carried legislation in the last two General Assembly sessions aimed at allowing immigrant students who entered the country as children to qualify for in-state tuition. Both the bills, HB1525 in 2013 and HB747 this year, did not make it out of the House Appropriations Committee.
“Most of these young people have been raised in Virginia, attend Virginia schools, and only know Virginia as their home,” Rust said. “They deserve the opportunity to participate in our world class institutions of public higher education and realize their ambitions, just like my children and grandchildren were able to do.”
Attachments: