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In-State Tuition for Undocumented College Students in Texas Comes to An End

By My Undocumented Life on June 5, 2025 • ( 0 )

Since 2001, the state of Texas has provided students with access to in-state tuition rates, regardless of their immigration status through what is commonly known as the “Texas Dream Act”. This policy has significantly eased the burden of rising tuition costs and created pathways into higher education for undocumented students that otherwise would have remained blocked. With the Texas Dream Act, eligible undocumented students can access the state’s public institutions of higher education by paying in-state tuition rates as opposed to out-of-state tuition which can sometimes be three times more expensive.

In a publication by Immigration Impact, for example, Andrea Ramos (a formerly undocumented student) shares her experience navigating higher education in Texas. She also reflects on the benefits of the Texas Dream Act, which allowed her to enroll and eventually graduate from college. Others have similarly written about the benefits of in-state tuition access for undocumented students (for example, see this article by Stella Flores).

Despite its established and significant benefits, the Department of Justice recently sued the state of Texas over the legality of the Texas State Dream Act. The state’s Attorney General then agreed with the lawsuit. Their actions effectively brought an end to in-state tuition access for undocumented students (AP News 2025). Following the news, Aliento, an immigrant rights organization, shared on its Instagram account that “Texas’s Dreamers most likely would not have access to in-state tuition unless there is a future litigation fighting this back.” These actions are likely to affect the estimated 59,000 undocumented postsecondary students in Texas (American Immigration Council and Presidents’ Alliance 2023).

To learn more about the decision and its effects, check out the following news articles:

“Texas’ undocumented college students no longer qualify for in-state tuition” (Texas Tribune) – “Within hours of a federal lawsuit targeting Texas’ policy of letting its nearly 20,000 undocumented students qualify for lower public tuition rates, the 24-year-old law was no more.”

“Texas’ Migrant Tuition Break Blocked After Texas Joins D.O.J. to Kill It” (NYT) – “For two decades, Texas offered undocumented students in-state tuition, with bipartisan backing. On Wednesday, a federal judge stopped it after the Justice Department sued and Texas agreed.”

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