In-State Tuition Expansion for Immigrants (S 2983)

The ACLU of Rhode Island supported this bill, which would have helpfully amended the law enacted in 2021 designed to allow immigrant students to qualify for resident tuition at the state’s public universities, colleges, and community colleges. That legislation was critical to ensure that tuition for higher education was accessible to students who were residents of Rhode Island but did not have formal federal citizenship status. In reducing from three years to one the amount of time such students must have attended a Rhode Island high school, this legislation would have further opened the doors to immigrant youth in the state to qualify for in-state tuition. This legislation passed the Senate, but died in the House.