ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO-WCCO) — Minnesota’s college tuition policies are under scrutiny under a new federal challenge.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Minnesota, putting the state’s college tuition policies, notably the Minnesota Dream Act, under scrutiny. The Minnesota Dream Act allows for undocumented Minnesotans to be eligible for in-state tuition rates.
The move targets state offerings for in-state tuition rates and in some cases free tuition through programs like the North Star Promise to certain students regardless of their immigration status.
DFL State Senator Sandra Pappas helped enact the DREAM Act back in 2013.
“I’m pretty sad to see this attack because I’m just so proud of these students that really care about higher education and really appreciate it, and really want to contribute,” says Pappas. “So it’s pretty devastating.”
The Minnesota attorney General’s office said in a statement that they will vigorously defend the law.
“From a state perspective, we have a workforce shortage, so it’s really to our advantage to educate all the kids that we have that are Minnesota residents,” Pappas explains. “We said you’re a Minnesota resident if you go to high school here and you can pay in-state tuition.”
The DOJ argues that these policies unconstitutionally favor undocumented immigrants over U.S. citizens from other states.
Governor Tim Walz’s office is still reviewing the suit and has yet to respond.
The Justice Department has filed similar lawsuits this month against policies in Kentucky and Texas. Last week, a federal judge in Texas blocked that state’s law giving a tuition break to students living in the U.S. illegally after the state’s Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, said he supported the legal challenge.
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