Rethinking Residency

When it comes to higher education, Californians enjoy an impressive range of options, including access to public colleges and universities that offer high-quality academics with a low sticker price. Last week, the California Supreme Court voted to uphold a 2001 law that extended this privilege to all individuals who have attended high school in the state for three or more years, regardless of citizenship, much to the relief of undocumented students who are thus eligible to pay the lower in-state tuition rates. This policy is an appropriate one, given that California is many undocumented students’ home as much as it is that of their citizen peers.

Children whose parents bring them to the U.S. have committed no crime, and many have spent the majority of their lives living outside their countries of origin. It is fair to grant in-state tuition to individuals who are California residents in essence, even if not in legal terms. Students who have worked hard in American schools in the face of trying circumstances deserve the opportunity to receive an affordable higher education and become degree-holding members of their adopted nation.

The policy does not “reward” individuals for breaking the law, nor is it likely to especially encourage more individuals to enter the country illegally. Three years in California high schools may sound like a paltry requirement for the average U.S. citizen, but it may be a formidable one for the son or daughter of a family that occupies a precarious position in society. The barriers that illegal immigrants face—in crossing the border, finding work, finding housing, obtaining medical care, and more—are already very high.

Those students who gain entry into California public colleges and universities despite all the challenges they face as illegal immigrants should be rewarded for their hard work and tenacity. Such self-motivated and accomplished individuals will benefit greatly from the opportunity to pursue higher education, and the U.S. stands to benefit from their contributions in return.

Moreover, in-state tuition does not amount to a free ride. For California residents, a year at a University of California campus still amounts to an estimated $27,000, with the $10,000 student fee being only part of the total cost. For undocumented students, who are not eligible to receive federal financial aid, higher education will still be a sizeable financial burden, even with the reduced in-state rate. Rather than being the recipients of special favors, they are merely being treated as any state resident would be treated—their access is not immediate, but merely improved.

The California in-state tuition exemption focuses attention not on how undocumented students got here, but what they can do now that they are in the country. It would be unjust to jeopardize the futures of children as punishment for the past actions of their parents. Whether or not they wished it, undocumented children in California effectively have become American, and they deserve a shot at the American dream.