Federal Judge: Florida-Born Students with Undocumented Parents Cannot be Charged Out-of-State Tuition

A federal judge in Miami has ruled Florida colleges and universities cannot charge U.S. citizen students — who are Florida residents — higher, out-of-state tuition rates simply because they have undocumented parents.

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore said that violates the Constitution.

StateImpact Florida has reported on this state policy, and our work helped trigger the lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In Florida, tuition rates are determined by where the parent lives — not the student, unless they are over age 24 or they claim themselves as independent.

Under the policy, U.S. citizen students in Florida have been forced to pay the higher, out-of-state tuition rates if they cannot prove the legal residency of their undocumented parents.

We’ll bring you more updates here on StateImpact Florida.