Groups aims to lower tuition costs for illegal immigrant students
Several Texas nonprofits have formed mutual aid funds for illegal immigrant students after a federal judge struck down a state law allowing them to receive in-state tuition.
Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and Texas Students for DEI recently established an emergency fund called Keeping the Texas Dream, according to The Daily Texan.
“The repeal of the Texas DREAM Act has left roughly 20,000 undocumented students in Texas in limbo, effectively punishing them for simply daring to pursue their dreams and lift up themselves, their families, and their communities,” the initiative’s donation page states.
“With the help of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), Texas Students for DEI (TXS4DEI) is launching a mutual aid fund to provide relief to undocumented students facing looming registration deadlines for fall 2025,” it states.
SEAT leader Hayden Cohen told the outlet the funding will not cover all tuition expenses for illegal immigrant students. Rather, the group aims to reduce the cost to roughly that of in-state tuition.
“We know many students were going through the summer and had already applied in early classes,” Cohen said.
Students were surprised to learn that despite securing aid to cover in-state tuition through a loan, scholarship, or other means, they were instead charged out-of-state rates, which can add about $15,000 per year. The fund was created to help bridge that gap, Cohen said.
SEAT and TXS4DEI aren’t the only ones looking to help illegal immigrants pay for their education.
On Aug. 3, a coalition of immigrant University of Texas at Austin students and alumni called Rooted began accepting applications for its financial assistance program. Like Keeping the Texas Dream, the initiative seeks to lower tuition costs for illegal immigrants.
“The Rooted Financial Assistance Program provides financial assistance to immigrant students at UT Austin who have an immediate, unexpected expense due to circumstances beyond their control,” the organization’s website states.
The number one priority is to get “seniors across the finish line,” said a Rooted leader named Victoria, who requested to only go by her first name, according to The Daily Texan.
“We’re going to fight with all we have to get you graduated because you’ve already invested all your time here and put all of your efforts into your education,” she said.
In June, a federal judge blocked the Texas Dream Act, which provided in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students at public universities who met certain requirements, The College Fix previously reported.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state, and within hours, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor issued a permanent injunction.
The lawsuit claimed the Texas law violated federal law by giving illegal immigrants tuition benefits that out-of-state U.S. citizens could not receive.
MORE: Oklahoma ends in-state tuition for illegal immigrants following DOJ lawsuit
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium at the campus of UT Austin; GS Photography/Shutterstock
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