PORTLAND Ore.
A panel of students, faculty and administrators is proposing charging in-state tuition for undocumented immigrant students at Oregon’s public universities.
The idea didn’t get to the last Legislature but is being discussed through Friday by the State Board of Higher Education as a way to diversify enrollment.
Tuition is three times higher than in-state rates for the undocumented immigrants, which prevents many high school graduates from attending college.
“It seemed to us that it was a reasonable position to take,” said Dr. Dalton Miller-Jones, a state board member and Portland State University professor who heads the panel.
The issue of taxpayer subsidies for undocumented students is part of the larger immigration debate expected to be a factor in the presidential race.
About 10 states, including California and Washington, already allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition.
Oregon’s State Board of Higher Education can make the change but has held off, waiting for legislative approval, said Neil Bryant, a former legislator who lobbies for the university system.
The Legislature and the governor could reverse any changes the board makes.
“We go to the Legislature for a whole variety of things, and you want to have a good positive relationship with them,” said Bryant, former state senator.
Rep. Linda Flores, R-Clackamas, who opposes the idea, said she would be “very disappointed” if the state board end-runs the Legislature.
“People are very concerned about services and benefits being provided to people who are not here legally,” she said.
Universities don’t track who is legal and who isn’t. Latino students, most of whom are here legally, make up 4 percent of enrollment in the public university system and 10 percent of the state population.
Lorena Landeros, a senior at the University of Oregon, said it’s unfair that some Oregon high school graduates can’t attend college because of their immigration status. She said she had friends in that situation when she graduated from Junction City High School.
