The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against Pennsylvania State University over its tuition policy for undocumented students, arguing that the school offers a reduced rate that is unavailable to some U.S. citizens. The Justice Department filed the complaint on Thursday, challenging the university’s eligibility rules for in-state tuition.
The department’s central argument concerns the treatment of U.S. citizens who live outside Pennsylvania. Those students cannot obtain the same reduced tuition available to undocumented students who qualify under the university’s policy, according to the lawsuit. Federal officials contend that the difference violates federal law and amounts to unconstitutional discrimination against U.S. citizens.
Penn State’s website says undocumented students may qualify for in-state tuition if they satisfy certain residency requirements. That eligibility applies both to students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, known as DACA, and to those without it. The requirements include attending an accredited high school in Pennsylvania for at least four years, along with graduating from an accredited Pennsylvania high school or obtaining a Pennsylvania General Educational Development certificate.
The Justice Department is asking for an order preventing Penn State from enforcing the challenged policy. Its request targets the provision of in-state tuition to undocumented students, including those living in Pennsylvania, regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. The complaint also seeks to prevent the university from introducing new tuition policies that favor undocumented students over U.S. citizens.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, who serves in the department’s Civil Division, said Congress had established that states and public institutions could not provide such tuition benefits to undocumented immigrants unless they were also available to all U.S. citizens. He accused Penn State of disregarding that requirement and said the department would continue challenging policies it considers unlawful disadvantages for American citizens.
The Penn State case brings the Justice Department’s total number of lawsuits challenging in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants to 27. The department has obtained favorable orders for the federal government in six lawsuits involving Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. also described the lawsuit as part of the department’s continuing effort to challenge state laws and university policies that it considers preferential treatment for undocumented immigrants. Fox News Digital said it had contacted Penn State for comment on the lawsuit.
