The U.S. Department of Justice is suing the state of Vermont over its recently enacted law that allows undocumented residents to apply for in-state tuition for college.
Vermont is the latest state to have its in-state college tuition program challenged by the Justice Department. The department has filed 16 similar lawsuits in other states.
A press release Monday announcing the latest lawsuits, which also include New York and Connecticut, says the laws, “unconstitutionally discriminate against U.S. citizens who are not afforded the same reduced tuition rates or scholarships, create incentives for illegal immigration, and reward illegal aliens with benefits that U.S. citizens are not eligible for, all in direct conflict with federal law.”
“This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”
Gov. Phil Scott signed Vermont’s in-state tuition law in May 2024, after it passed the House and Senate by wide majorities.
The law allows all Vermont residents, regardless of immigration status, to have access to in-state tuition rates and need-based financial aid when attending public colleges and universities in the state.
The federal lawsuit names the State of Vermont, Vermont State Colleges, University of Vermont and the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation.
Attorney General Charity Clark’s office said they had not yet been served the lawsuit and therefore could not comment.
“All students in Vermont — regardless of what country they're from — deserve an education,” said Migrant Justice spokesperson Rachel Elliott. “Migrant Justice is proud to have supported efforts to expand education access in Vermont for immigrant students. We expect that Vermont's Attorney General will stand up to the Trump administration and vigorously defend these rights.”
Nineteen other states, and the District of Columbia, have similar state laws that permit undocumented students to receive in-state tuition, according to the National Immigration Law Center.
About 60% of the nation’s foreign-born population live in a state with the so-called tuition equity laws or policies, the organization said.
According to the Department of Justice press release, similar lawsuits in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Illinois “resulted favorable orders permanently enjoining and declaring unconstitutional analogous laws that gave reduced tuition to illegal aliens.”
