Sponsors (4)
The bill strengthens federal enforcement to prevent federal funds from indirectly supporting in‑state tuition parity for individuals not lawfully present, at the cost of reduced college affordability for those students and potential funding and budgetary harm to public colleges and state governments.
The Secretary of Education gains a clear enforcement mechanism to prevent federal higher-education funds from indirectly supporting in‑state tuition parity or State financial aid for individuals not lawfully present.
States and U.S. taxpayers may see reduced state spending on higher-education subsidies if institutions stop offering in‑state tuition parity or State aid to students not lawfully present.
Public colleges and universities could lose federal grants and formula funding for a full fiscal year, reducing resources for programs and potentially harming educational services for all students.
Students who are not lawfully present could lose in‑state tuition parity and State financial aid, making college substantially more expensive and reducing access.
State governments that currently provide in‑state tuition to certain noncitizen residents could face legal or financial pressure to change laws or cover shifted costs, creating budgetary and political strain for taxpayers and residents.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal financial assistance to public colleges on not providing in‑state tuition parity or state financial aid to aliens not lawfully present; violations trigger one‑year ineligibility.
Official title: To amend section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to prohibit the provision of Federal financial assistance to public institutions of higher education that provide certain higher education benefits to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 26, 2025 by Nancy Mace · Last progress March 26, 2025
Conditions federal financial assistance to public colleges and universities on those institutions not offering in‑state tuition parity or state financial aid to people who are not lawfully present in the United States. The Department of Education must identify institutions that provide such benefits; any institution found in violation is barred from receiving federal financial assistance for the fiscal year after the finding. The change is implemented by amending the statutory provision that addresses tuition parity and state financial aid for aliens not lawfully present, adding a new enforcement subsection and cross‑referencing existing definitions for key terms.