West Linn High School educators are warning local families that a federal lawsuit could more than double college costs for undocumented students who graduated from Oregon high schools.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Oregon on Aug. 27, challenging the state's Tuition Equity Act, a bipartisan law passed in 2013 that lets certain undocumented students pay in-state tuition at public colleges. The DOJ alleges the law violates a provision of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which bars states from granting residency-based tuition benefits to people not lawfully present unless U.S. citizens from every state get the same deal.
At the University of Oregon, the gap is stark. In-state tuition and fees for the incoming class of 2030 are $17,475 per year, the Daily Emerald reported. Out-of-state students pay $47,466, a difference of roughly $30,000.
Kim Jordan, West Linn High School's College and Career Center coordinator, told the school's student newspaper, wlhsNOW, that "out-of-state [tuition], depending on the school and depending on the university, can be double [the] in-state cost."
Jordan said when college becomes unaffordable, students simply stop going. The cost goes beyond the tuition sticker price, she said, encompassing housing, food and other expenses.
Tyson Brown, an Advanced Placement Human Geography and civics teacher at the school, framed Oregon's position this way: the state argues that students who grew up here and went through the public school system should have access to in-state rates regardless of citizenship status.
Brown told wlhsNOW the lawsuit also reflects a broader push. The Trump administration, he said, "is trying really hard to make sure that anyone who's unauthorized in this country, a non-citizen, is not getting any type of governmental support in any way, as a way to potentially push those individuals out of the country."
Oregon is one of several states targeted. KOIN reported that the DOJ filed complaints against Oregon, Washington, Arizona and New Mexico on the same day, challenging 21 in-state tuition and financial assistance laws across those four states. The case names the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University, Western Oregon University, Southern Oregon University and Portland Community College as defendants alongside the state.
Six states have already had their tuition equity policies blocked by court orders: Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, according to wlhsNOW's reporting. Only Minnesota has won its case so far, though the DOJ is appealing that decision.
Oregon's case remains pending. The state has pledged to defend the law. The Oregon Attorney General's office said the program "passed on a bipartisan vote and has been a success for Oregon's universities and students for well over a decade," according to KOIN.
A state report from Oregon's Higher Education Coordinating Commission found that more than 1,500 students participated in three tuition-reduction programs at Oregon public universities during 2022-23. Those programs serve noncitizens who graduated from Oregon high schools, Compact of Free Association islanders, refugees, special immigrant visa holders, veterans and their dependents. The number of noncitizens from Oregon high schools receiving benefits declined from 362 in 2019-20 to 307 in 2022-23, a trend the report said was consistent with declining college-going rates since the pandemic.
The lawsuit could take months or years to resolve, Brown told wlhsNOW. For now, Oregon's Tuition Equity Act remains in effect.
