During the 2023 session, the legislature did not take up the Governor's proposal to repeal Florida's 2014 law that allows certain immigrant undergrads to pay in-state tuition rates.
Florida’s young immigrants who are undocumented face myriad barriers to higher education and economic prosperity. Also known as “Dreamers,” after the federal DREAM Act, these young people were brought to the U.S. and often do not remember living in any other country. Dreamers attend our schools, are valued community members, pay taxes and contribute to the economy. By one estimate, Dreamers who are enrolled in, or eligible for, the federal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program pay $78 million in state and local taxes in Florida annually.
In 2017, the Trump administration announced the end of the DACA program, despite evidence that it helped to improve economic and health outcomes for the young people enrolled and that ending the program would hurt the U.S. economy. The phase out of the DACA program has been put on hold by several federal courts. Meanwhile, in Florida, there are 27,000 young people enrolled in DACA and an estimated 75,000 young people in the state who are eligible for the program but have not enrolled, and are blocked from doing so until the DACA program is reinstated.
While the federal DREAM Act and DACA may have been put on hold, these young people’s lives keep moving forward. State governments, industry, and universities are pushing to protect and support Dreamers. Despite recent harmful federal immigration policies and divisive rhetoric, many states continue to implement inclusive policies for immigrants that strengthen economies and communities. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recently released a report outlining four policies that states can pursue to help families and economies prosper; key among them is opening eligibility for in-state tuition and state financial aid to state residents without documentation.
In 2014, Florida’s then-Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill allowing students who are undocumented to pay in-state tuition rates if they graduated from a Florida high school and spent at least three consecutive years in Florida schools immediately prior to graduating. "Students that grew up in our state are going to get the same in-state tuition as their peers, which is what's fair," he said after signing the legislation. The bill initially stalled in the Senate, until Scott enrolled the help of former Florida Governors Jeb Bush and Bob Martinez, who helped to push the bill over the finish line. As a result, Florida joined the ranks of now 20 other states that have adopted “tuition-equity” laws, allowing for in-state tuition for immigrant students without documentation.
While out-of-state tuition waivers only comprise a small amount of the State University System’s annual tuition and fee waiver expenditures (6 percent, on average, over the 2017-2022 fiscal years), they make a tremendous difference to the 2,000+ immigrant students who receive them. Many of these families cannot afford out-of-state tuition, which in Florida is by-and-large more than triple in-state tuition. Without the option to pay in-state tuition, these Floridians would have few alternatives, and many might not attend college or university at all.
FPI opposes repealing the 2014 law that allows Florida residents without documented immigration status to pay in-state tuition rates at Florida’s state colleges and universities.
Tuition equity students in Florida still face significant financial barriers to higher education. They are not eligible for federal financial aid, including Pell grants and federal loans, nor are they eligible for Florida’s financial aid programs including the Bright Futures Scholarships and need-based aid. Given the lack of available financing, the cost of college — even at in-state tuition rates — is still out of reach for most Florida families of students without documentation. The average income of an undocumented family in Florida is $37,500, whereas the average yearly cost of in-state attendance to Florida’s public universities is $22,464. It makes sense that lack of financial aid is the leading cause of undocumented students not pursuing higher education.
Texas has been leading the way for Dreamers to pursue college since 2001. In that year, then-Governor Rick Perry signed a law allowing Texas resident students without documentation to have access to both in-state tuition and state merit- and need-based financial aid. By 2016, Texas had 25,151 Dreamers taking advantage of in-state tuition, 1.5 percent of the student body, and 2,819 Dreamers receiving Texas financial aid, or less than 1 percent of the total receiving aid. By using the history of these policies in Texas as a guide, FPI estimates that offering financial aid eligibility to Dreamers in Florida would cost the state only $8.7 million a year.
Florida’s tuition equity law is necessary, but it’s not enough to build a plausible path to college completion for Florida’s Dreamers. Research has shown that access to financial aid increases aspirations, college-going rates, retention, and completion. Allowing Florida’s students, regardless of immigration status, to have access to state financial aid would improve completion rates for Florida residents overall and boost the skills and wages of the workforce. Creating a level playing field for our communities' Dreamers is the fair thing to do and moves us forward on the road to shared prosperity.
"Being undocumented was something I did not fully understand until my eighth-grade year. In middle school, I was one of the few students chosen to receive the Take Stock in Children of Manatee County scholarship for my high academic standing and good conduct. When I asked my parents for my social security number in order to fill out the application requirements, they informed me of my status as an undocumented student. I was unable to complete the application — I was ineligible since I was not a U.S. citizen. My academic performance and good moral conduct were factors that no longer mattered. When I was a high school junior, I learned that I was ineligible for state aid, which included the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program and FAFSA. (Eventually) I received more than five acceptance letters from Florida universities and was fortunate to receive some private scholarships from my local community. As my high school and technical college graduations approached in May, I received news that TheDream.Us had chosen me as a scholarship recipient, which would cover my tuition at the University of Central Florida. I was beyond excited and grateful to receive this scholarship since it gives students like me an opportunity to achieve their dreams regardless of citizenship status. Unfortunately, not everyone has this opportunity. Some students do not have the privilege to receive national or private scholarships or have DACA. Therefore, they lose the opportunity to achieve their dreams due to lack of financial aid and local support from their communities and state. DACA recipients are unable to get loans, which further limits our resources to pay for post-secondary education. Expanding financial aid to the undocumented community in Florida would help them apply for state aid programs such as Florida Bright Futures and the need-based Florida Student Assistance Grant Program." - Leslye Trujillo
