Sponsors (5)
The bill preserves federal aid access and clarifies timing for states that limit in‑state tuition to lawfully present residents, but does so by creating the risk that students in noncompliant states could lose Title IV aid for a full year, producing affordability, enrollment, equity, and administrative harms.
State governments and students in states that limit in‑state tuition to lawfully present residents can avoid Title IV funding penalties, preserving federal student aid for those states.
State governments, educational institutions, and stakeholders benefit from clarified statutory timing because the bill specifies the effective date applies to subsection (a), reducing legal ambiguity about when prior rules take effect.
Students in designated ineligible states could lose access to federal Title IV student aid for a full fiscal year, substantially reducing college affordability for those individuals.
Public colleges and universities in affected states could face enrollment declines and revenue shortfalls if out‑of‑status students lose aid or cannot pay higher tuition, threatening programs and services.
Immigrants and low‑income students may experience increased interstate inequality in higher education access because the penalty approach incentivizes divergent state tuition rules and uneven access to aid.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Makes a State ineligible for Title IV federal student aid if the State charges individuals not lawfully present an in‑state tuition rate at public institutions.
Official title: To amend section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 to prohibit the provision of assistance under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to States that offer in-State tuition rates to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 31, 2025 by Timothy Burchett · Last progress March 31, 2025
Makes a State ineligible for Title IV federal student financial aid if the Secretary of Education determines the State charges individuals not lawfully present in the U.S. the same or lower in‑state tuition rate as residents. The ineligibility applies for the fiscal year after the year in which the determination is made and uses existing statutory definitions for ‘‘Federal financial assistance,’’ ‘‘State,’’ and ‘‘institution of higher education.’' It also clarifies an existing effective‑date reference in the underlying statute but contains no appropriations, new agency programs, or detailed implementation deadlines beyond the fiscal‑year timing for loss of Title IV eligibility.