Penn State lets some undocumented students get in-state tuition after 4 years at a Pennsylvania high school. Now the Justice Department is suing
The Trump administration’s immigration agenda reaches well beyond ICE street arrests, including more than a year of lawsuits against tuition breaks for undocumented students. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Penn State over a policy that grants in-state tuition to some undocumented students, according to Fox News. The suit alleges Penn State breaks federal law by offering undocumented students a rate denied to citizens from other states.
It seeks to block the policy and any future rules favoring undocumented students over citizens. The department claims Penn State is putting undocumented students ahead of citizens in defiance of Congress. The case is the 27th lawsuit it has filed against such tuition policies. The department said six earlier cases in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois, and Kansas ended in favorable orders for the federal government.
Penn State outlines its requirements on its website, which states that students without documentation are ineligible for in-state tuition. This also applies to individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status who can qualify for the lower in-state rate if they meet specific criteria. These include attending an accredited Pennsylvania high school for at least four years and graduating from one or receiving a Pennsylvania General Educational Development certificate.
The Justice Department says Penn State ignored what Congress wrote
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Civil Division argued that Congress barred states and public colleges from giving undocumented students tuition benefits unless all citizens get the same benefits. “This university has ignored that mandate. The Department will continue to challenge policies that unlawfully disadvantage American citizens,” Shumate said in a statement.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward, Jr. said the department is continuing its push against any state law or university policy that favors undocumented immigrants over citizens. However, Penn State has not publicly responded beyond a brief statement. Spokesperson Wyatt DuBois told The Daily Collegian the university is aware of the complaint and reviewing it.
The case comes down to how judges read a law from 1996
The federal provision dates to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Under 8 U.S.C. 1623, a person not lawfully present cannot get a college benefit based on state residence unless citizens anywhere qualify too.
Results have varied, as some states sided with the government instead of defending their own laws. Texas did so in 2025, and a federal judge blocked its Dream Act about six hours after the complaint was filed. However, Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the Minnesota case, ruling that eligibility there turns on high school attendance rather than residence.
That reasoning could matter for Penn State, as its policy also hinges on four years at a Pennsylvania high school. The department has appealed the Minnesota ruling to the Eighth Circuit. Lower-division nonresidents at University Park are set to pay $46,356 in tuition for 2027-28, compared with $21,400 for Pennsylvania residents.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, where Penn State is expected to answer the government’s request to bar the policy permanently.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Follow The Mary Sue:
