President Trump’s Justice Department took Penn State to federal court Thursday, accusing the university of giving in-state tuition benefits to illegal aliens while denying that same lower rate to American citizens who live outside Pennsylvania.
That is the federal government’s allegation — not a court ruling. The complaint was filed November 5, and a judge has not yet decided whether Penn State’s policy violates federal law.
The Justice Department announced the case Thursday afternoon:
The Justice Department says Penn State’s undocumented-student policy conflicts with Congress’s command that an alien who is not lawfully present cannot receive a residence-based postsecondary education benefit unless U.S. citizens can receive the same benefit regardless of where they live.
The release calls this the department’s 27th lawsuit challenging in-state tuition for illegal aliens. It says the United States wants to stop Penn State from enforcing the current policy and from adopting a new tuition policy that gives undocumented students an advantage over U.S. citizens.
Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said the department is continuing its effort to stop states and public universities from giving preferential treatment to illegal aliens over American citizens.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said Congress made a deliberate choice: states and public institutions cannot grant that tuition benefit unless it is available to all U.S. citizens.
The 14-page complaint makes two principal claims. First, it alleges that Penn State’s policy violates 8 U.S.C. § 1623 because it offers a residence-based tuition benefit to aliens not lawfully present while out-of-state Americans remain ineligible.
Second, it alleges the university policy violates 8 U.S.C. § 1621 because the benefit was not created through an affirmative Pennsylvania law.
The United States is asking for declaratory and injunctive relief. In plain English, the Trump DOJ wants a judge to declare the policy unlawful, stop Penn State from enforcing it, and prevent the university from adopting another policy that gives undocumented students a tuition preference over U.S. citizens.
The lawsuit quickly became local news in State College:
Penn State’s policy allows certain undocumented students to establish eligibility for in-state rates when they satisfy Pennsylvania-residency requirements, including attendance at an accredited Pennsylvania high school for four years and earning a diploma or GED. Those students are not eligible for university or Commonwealth financial aid under the policy.
The legal question, however, is not whether a student attended high school in Pennsylvania. The federal government’s theory is that Penn State cannot use residence to give an undocumented student a lower public-university rate while charging an American from another state more.
The Associated Press reported that Penn State is aware of the complaint and is reviewing it. The university has not yet filed its answer, and its defense will matter: supporters of these tuition policies argue that students who meet the same in-state schooling and residency conditions are being treated alike.
For one American parent watching college costs climb, the lawsuit hit close to home:
This is also not an isolated fight. The Penn State case is part of a broader DOJ campaign challenging public-college tuition policies around the country.
The Penn State release points to favorable orders in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, including a Fifth Circuit order. Those are DOJ’s reported results in other cases; they are not a judgment against Penn State.
The distinction matters. DOJ has filed a serious federal challenge and laid out the statutes it believes Penn State violated.
Penn State will have an opportunity to answer, and the court — not a press release — will determine whether the policy can stand.
For now, the Trump administration has put the university on notice: if Penn State offers a tuition break based on Pennsylvania residence, the Justice Department says that break cannot favor illegal aliens over American citizens.
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
