© 2025 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

Dreamers say eliminating in-state tuition waivers would make college an impossible goal

A long library building with a raised green roof sits behind a a sidewalk and a grassy area with a tree. More trees are in the background, while a lamppost is to the left of the photo.
Pasco Hernando State College
/
Facebook
Pasco Hernando State College's Alric C.T. Pottberg Library is at the school's West Campus. Public universities and colleges are eliminating their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion departments to comply with state law.

Immigration advocates react to a sweeping immigration bill would eliminate in-state tuition waivers, which have made college accessible for 10 years to Florida students without legal status.

As part of a sweeping immigration bill, dubbed the TRUMP Act, Florida legislators have voted to eliminate fee waivers for students in Florida allowed to live in the country illegally.

Advocates say the move would more than triple costs and make college inaccessible for thousands.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has, in the past, attempted to repeal the 2014 law that allows students without legal status to pay in-state tuition rates.

However, he’s expected to veto the bill, calling it “weak.” It’s uncertain if lawmakers will be able to override the veto.

Immigrant and education advocates say taking away the tuition benefit will harm students widely known as “Dreamers” and other students without legal status.

Dreamers were brought illegally by family to the U.S. as young children, some of whom are protected from deportation by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals act.

"In-state tuition has really been the path for higher education for Dreamers in Florida, and closing it is just abdicating that path,” said Holly Bullard from the nonpartisan think tank Florida Policy Institute.

The institute recently published a report outlining the financial cost of locking this group of students out of higher education.

In the 2023-24 academic year, about 6,500 students who used the waiver paid about $26.7 million in in-state tuition and fees to Florida’s colleges and universities.

Florida is among 25 states that provide in-state tuition to students without legal status. The law passed 10 years ago with bipartisan support under GOP leadership.

But as an immigration crackdown coincides with the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republican lawmakers in Florida are taking their own hardline approach to the state’s immigration policies.

What is the tuition waiver for these students?

Florida offers a number of waivers that grant in-state tuition to students.

The one given to students without legal status is classified as the 5012 nonresident waiver. To qualify, students must prove they’ve lived in the state and attended a Florida school for three consecutive years before graduating, and apply to a higher education institution within 24 months.

The requirements are stricter than for students who are legal residents of Florida, who must show they’ve lived in the state for at least 12 months before the academic term to receive the in-state tuition rate.

At Florida’s community colleges, in-state tuition averages around $3,000. At public universities, the average is $6,000. Out-of-state tuition rates can cost 3½ times as much.

“My education has powered the financial upward mobility of my family, of myself."
Oscar, a Dreamer in the Tampa Bay area who fears being targeted for his immigration status

Oscar, a Dreamer in the Tampa Bay area, said he would not have been able to attend a university without the waiver. We’re not using Oscar’s last name because he fears being targeted for his immigration status.

Students without required documentation — including DACA recipients, who receive authorization to work in the U.S. — don’t have access to federal financial aid like FAFSA or Pell Grants. Florida does not offer state financial aid to them either.

“When I graduated from high school, I was actually admitted to 26 different colleges and universities, but many of them had barriers to access many of the scholarships,” said Oscar.

Private scholarships are also few and far between, added Bullard.

The waiver, Oscar said, gave him the opportunity to attend the University of South Florida, which was “life-changing.”

“My education has powered the financial upward mobility of my family, of myself,” said Oscar.

More than 200 students are using the tuition waiver at USF this year.

The Florida Department of Education. on its website, says “funding for these schools comes from the state residents in the form of taxes. As a result, these state residents can attend public institutions at a lower cost than those not residents of the state.”

Bullard pointed out that immigrants who lack documented status paid nearly $1.8 billion in state and local taxes. DACA recipients, specifically, have contributed about $78 million.

“Undocumented families are already contributing to this public system,” said Bullard.

However, conservative lawmakers argue that offering tuition at a discounted rate to students without legal status is “unfair” to out-of-state U.S. citizens who have to pay three times as much in tuition.

Republican Sen. Randy Fine, who introduced the bill, said during the special session debate, “It’s not right to give foreigners a better deal than Americans.”

What is the financial impact?

An average of 6,500 students use nonresident waivers each year in Florida.

A majority — about 4,500 — of those waivers are used within community colleges, which accept students on an open-enrollment basis, meaning anyone with a high school diploma or GED can attend.

Because of that, Bullard pointed out, it’s unlikely other students will be able to entirely replace the tuition dollars lost within the college system — about $15 million annually, according to FPI.

She adds that this loss comes at a time when college enrollment is down 11 percent from prepandemic levels.

“This runs counter to our attainment goals for education, for high-quality degrees and credentials to improve our economy,” said Bullard.

When it comes to Florida universities, students compete for a set number of spots, which is dwindling at some schools looking to reduce or cap enrollment in the coming years.

About 2,005 non-esident waivers are being used in the State University System. Those students paid nearly $12 million in tuition and fees last school year, according to FPI.

“For the state’s university system, if another Florida resident replaced a Dreamer’s spot, they would pay the same tuition and fees,” the FPI report states. “As such, the fiscal impact on state universities would be negligible, if anything, from substituting Dreamers using the out-of-state fee waiver with another Florida resident.”

But some Republican lawmakers point out that the State University System could be losing out on non-Florida students who pay out-of-state tuition.

Fine has framed this loss as a cost to taxpayers, which advocates have called a flawed argument.

“Nonresident tuition forgone is not a hard cash cost to Florida taxpayers and therefore not a potential tax savings or a reappropriation for other state needs,” says a report published by the Florida College Access Network.

Bullard says lawmakers shouldn’t expect to replace every Dreamer with an out-of-state student.

The report further outlined that nonresident waivers account for a small percentage of in-state tuition waivers.

“These particular fee waivers, combined, account for 6.1% of the $669 million in total tuition exemptions and waivers approved by (the Florida College System) and (State University System) institutions in the most recent reporting year,” states FCAN.

FCAN’s report also pointed to research from other groups.

Florida Tax Watch found that every dollar invested in Florida College System institutions reaps a return of $10.80 to $15.42 in benefits to the economy.

Similarly, a Helios Education Foundation report found that expanding college enrollment in Florida by 10% would generate an additional $8.38 billion annually.

Braulio Colon, the executive director of FCAN, said the bill “doesn’t represent Florida’s values and is not aligned with Florida’s own goal of increasing access to education after high school.”

A student speaks

Oscar was brought to the U.S. as a young child without documentation and without a say. But, in his eyes, his education has made all the difference.

“I have a stable job, I have a flourishing career, all things I know I wouldn’t have if I didn't go to college,” he said.

He’s a homeowner, as well, paying thousands of dollars in property tax and contributing federal taxes as well. In every way, Florida is his home, he said.

And with a pending green card application, he hopes he can call it that permanently.

“I've been able to work on adjusting my status, largely because of my education,” said Oscar. “Education has been the great equalizer for so many people, and my education, in particular, opened doors for me that I know without it would not have existed,”

Editor's note: FCAN's Braulio Colon is married to WUSF’s The Zest Podcast host, Dalia Colon. 

As WUSF's general assignment reporter, I cover a variety of topics across the greater Tampa Bay region.
You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.