Florida To Ban Undocumented Students Admission To Public Universities

Florida State Senator Randy Fine has introduced a bill prohibiting certain public universities from admitting undocumented immigrants. The proposal targets institutions with in-state tuition acceptance rates below 85%. The bill follows Governor Ron DeSantis’s call for a special session following President-elect Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Institutions including the University of Florida, Florida State University, the University of Central Florida, and Florida International University will be impacted by the proposal. The schools, with lower acceptance rates, would be required to comply with the proposed restrictions.

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However, No details are provided on the potential number of students likely to be impacted by the proposal. As per the Pew Research Center estimates Florida is home to 1.2 million immigrants without legal authorisation.

States including Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina have already prohibited unauthorized immigrants from enrolling in certain colleges.

Fine, also introduced a separate bill seeking to repeal a Florida law that permits unauthorized students to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. Reportedly, half of the US states have policies to allow such students to qualify for in-state tuition.

According to the current provisions, Florida law allows such students to pay in-state tution rates if they meet specific qualification. As per the Florida Policy Institute, during 2023-24 nearly 6,500 unauthorised students were granted waivers to avoid paying out-of-state tuition at public colleges and universities.

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However, critics have argued that the bill proposal could harm the enrollment numbers in Florida’s educational institutions.