Undocumented students in Wisconsin received a gift on Monday when Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle signed a provision that allows such students to receive in-state tuition rates under certain circumstances.
The law makes Wisconsin the 11th state to offer in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. It will only extend to students who have lived in Wisconsin at least three years prior to graduating from high school or obtaining a GED.
It’s estimated that 400 to 650 undocumented immigrants graduate from state high schools every year, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The signing comes just days after students — including students from Wisconsin — traveled to the nation’s capitol to participate in a mock graduation ceremony in support of “The DREAM Act.” The proposed legislation would allow undocumented students to receive a college education and ultimately, permanent citizenship. It would also restore states’ rights to offer in-state tuition to undocumented students, as previously reported in Diverse.
Undocumented students would save about $10,000 each year if they paid in-state tuition as opposed to out-of-state tuition, according to the Journal Sentinel.
“I really think this gets us back on course with our brightest having more access to education,” said State Rep. Pedro Colón, D-Milwaukee, in the report.
Colón, who first introduced the bill in 1999, added, “It’s not a huge scholarship program, but an important step for more access to higher education than we had yesterday.”
