The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against Pennsylvania State University Thursday over its in-state tuition policy, marking the department’s 27th challenge to tuition benefits for undocumented students.
The complaint says the university’s policy makes in-state tuition available to undocumented students who live in Pennsylvania, including those who are not lawfully present in the United States. DOJ says U.S. citizens who live outside Pennsylvania cannot receive the same reduced rate.
The department argues the policy conflicts with federal law. It says states and public universities may not give undocumented students reduced tuition unless the same benefit is available to all U.S. citizens. DOJ asks the court to stop the university from applying the policy and adopting future tuition rules that favor undocumented students.
DOJ said its cases involving similar laws in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas resulted in favorable orders permanently blocking the laws and declaring them unconstitutional. The department said one of those orders came from the Fifth Circuit.
