Running Head: TEXAS 1

Texas In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrants

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Texas In-State Tuition for Undocumented Immigrants

In recent years, immigration issues have become debatable because of the inflow of

immigrants into the United States and concern over safety and security following 9/11 attack.

State legislatures, since 2001, have been battling whether to offer undocumented students who

have resided in this country for numerous years an opportunity to access reasonable college

education (Amuedo-Dorantes and Sparber, 2014). In fact, each legislative session in about

twenty states across the United States debates on the decision to provide in-state tuition to

undocumented immigrants. Improving college affordability is becoming a key priority due to the

limited skills-based jobs and uncertain economy (National Conference of State Legislators,

2015).

At least eighteen states, including Texas, have legislations allowing illegal students who

have completed their lower and upper education to pay same tuition rates like their equals at

public institutions of higher education. Texas' legislation to offer in-state tuition to unlawful

immigrants have enabled many of the disqualified illegitimate students to pay in-state tuition

charges and acquire financial assistance. Out of all Texas students admitted in higher education

schools, only 2 percent are either temporary or undocumented citizens and acquire the reduced

rate (Amuedo-Dorantes and Sparber, 2014). The decision is in due course an economic

development inventiveness to minimize the drop rate of undocumented students. As far as this

decision is concerned, undocumented immigrants can closely align their skills and interests to

higher-paying jobs. It is through this that they can earn more money and begin contributing more

in workforce taxes. While coming up with the policy, legislators projected that high college

admission by illegitimate immigrants would not affect the budget (Reich and Barth, 2016). That

is, it will attract new students to enroll in-state tuition, and there would be increased tax
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disbursements to state after the students graduate. The revenue collected can support vital

programs such as Medicare and social security, even though undocumented immigrants are not

able to utilize these programs.

Minimizing the cost of pursuing the college education, and therefore minimizing a barrier

to joining, is an appropriate cheap investment in a state's future labor force. A college education

is even more significant now that the earnings gap between less-educated and college-educated

Millennials is broader than in earlier generations. A college graduate's lifetime incomes are

almost twice those of an individual with only a high school diploma. The evidence shows that

the economic impact of enabling undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition would be

constructive, however, emotional, social, ethical, and political implications carry the debate

beyond virtuously economic deliberations. According to the supporters of Texas' law to offer in-

state tuition to illegal immigrants, most of the illegitimate students have been raised up in Texas

and hence, should not be avoided to enroll higher education because they just found themselves

there (National Conference of State Legislators, 2015).

It is worth noting that most of the undocumented students graduate from a public high

school. In this sense, their education should not end at high school graduation, but the students

should offered a chance to advance their education. The prospects of undocumented students

after secondary education is limited and this limits their future economic and social mobility. As

Potochnick (2014) asserts, each year, more than many students end up not completing high

school education. Out of these students, half of them are from minority groups, including

undocumented students. The cost of lost wages is significant because dropouts earn substantially

less wages compared to their colleagues who possess higher education skills. This means that by

enabling undocumented students to enroll Texas in-state tuition, the lost wages could be
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minimized. In 2015, Reich and Barth (2016) conducted a study in colleges and noted that most of

illegal students have high likelihood to remain in their respective state even when they cannot

access higher education. Texas regulation to offer access to advanced education for the

illegitimate students means that it is concerned with interests of every person in the state.

In fact, the unauthorized students are probably to participate in criminal activities when

they are not given the privilege to enroll in-state tuition. Texas' policy played a significant role

on this as minimizes cases of illegal activities as well as costs to state welfare systems and state

prisons. According to Reich and Barth (2016), the fees for in-state students to enroll college

education in a period of four years was $12,040 during the 2014-2015 academic year while that

of out-of-state students was $16,450 for the equivalent education. Simply, this means that a law

enabling illegal students to enroll in-state tuition would make higher education in Texas

accessible and affordable for qualified students. Inaccessibility to postsecondary education

results in a rising uninformed labor force, thus impacting the economy of the state. The decision

of Texas to offer in-state tuition to unlawful immigrants gives the students a motivation for

finishing high school education, enrolling college education; hence, they can contribute to a

state's economy and society after graduating.

However, those who opposed in-state tuition for illegitimate students had a different

perspective on Texas' decision. One of the most popular argument was that allowing in-state

tuition for illegal students motivate individuals to move in the state unlawfully or to stay in the

state even after their travel permits expire (National Conference of State Legislators, 2015). As

well, enabling illegitimate students enroll pay in-state tuition, particularly in the course of tight

economic times, could deny some prospects to the Texas citizens and lawfully immigrants. It is

like granting these students a consent to break the regulation, and this could minimize the
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enrollment slots for legal immigrants and legal citizens. Most significantly, it was costly to

permit in-state tuition for illegal students; thus, public funds should be utilized in another way

rather than supporting such students. In other words, undocumented students are not legitimate to

publicly financed aids, comprising in-state tuition to post-secondary education.

According to Reich and Barth (2016), Texas' legislation to give unlawful immigrants in-

state tuition is illegal. This is because any illegitimate immigrant is unqualified for any public

welfares, including in-state tuition to postsecondary education. Section 505 of the constitution

precisely positions states that offer in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants at jeopardy. This

rule states that such act can be challenged at the court when it is not correspondingly made

accessible to the legal citizens and lawful immigrants. Even though illegal students can finish

college education successfully, their illegitimacy limit them to be employed in diverse

workplaces. As Dougherty et al. (2010) point out, most of the students in Texas who join college

based on the undocumented student tuition legislation are hardly employed after graduating.

Texas' decision to provide in-state tuition to unauthorized immigrants is a matter of the

state legislature who decided it. Legislators were in a better position to weigh the fiscal and

moral implications of the policy. While some may be tempted to propose excluding

undocumented immigrants in state matters, the action is administratively impractical and result

in fierce opposition from the supporters of immigration laws. The prospect of denying

undocumented students to join colleges would offend deep-seated ideas of social, political and

moral responsibility. It has taken some years for the Texas' decision to be determined

constitutionally. Enforcing the regulation of in-state tuition for illegitimate students in Texas has

reduced legal immigration which in turn increase the problem of legal citizens losing political

representation (Amuedo-Dorantes and Sparber, 2014). From these political realities as a result of
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Texas' decision on undocumented immigrants, it is important to note that every state in the

United States is sovereign and has a significant degree of self-rule. This is the key reason why

Texas decided to pass and enforce its regulations.

Conclusively, the legislation to allow undocumented students to enroll in-state tuition

seems to have positively achieved its major objective of increasing the number of qualified

undocumented students in higher education institutions, without resulting in large destructive

impacts on most of the legitimate students. Young undocumented immigrants residing in Texas

can benefit from the state's decision regarding in-state tuition. Even though this discussion does

not give profound support for the claim, indeed, the existence of such policy is better than its

nonexistence. Establishing policies which enhance higher education affordability provide

significant benefits to both citizen and non-citizen in terms of less crime, lesser need for

government support, and greater economic productivity.

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References

Amuedo-Dorantes, C., & Sparber, C. (2014). In-state tuition for undocumented immigrants and

its impact on college enrollment, tuition costs, student financial aid, and

indebtedness. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 49, 11-24.

Dougherty, K., Nienhusser, K., & Vega, B. (2010). Undocumented Immigrants and State Higher

Education Policy: The Politics of In-State Tuition Eligibility in Texas and Arizona. The

Review of Higher Education, 34(1), 123-173.

National Conference of State Legislators (2015). Undocumented Student Tuition:

Overview. Ncsl.org. Retrieved 30 March 2017, from

http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/undocumented-student-tuition-overview.aspx

Potochnick, S. (2014). How states can reduce the dropout rate for undocumented immigrant

youth: The effects of in-state resident tuition policies. Social Science Research, 45, 18-

32.

Reich, G., & Barth, J. (2016). Educating Citizens or Defying Federal Authority? A Comparative

Study of In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students. Policy Studies Journal, 38(3),

419-445.