For the past decade, Florida law has allowed undocumented students to pay in-state tuition at public colleges if they attended high school in the state for three years and enrolled in higher education within two years of graduating. Now, that policy is at risk.
The Florida Legislature voted last week to repeal the policy that allows undocumented students to pay the same tuition as Florida residents, as part of a sweeping 84-page immigration bill called the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or Trump Act. While Republican lawmakers have celebrated the measure as a step toward stricter immigration enforcement, Gov. Ron DeSantis refuses to sign it—not because he opposes the repeal, but because he believes the bill does not go far enough.
At a roundtable event in Palm Beach on Jan. 30, DeSantis dismissed the package as a “grotesque piece of weak legislation” and called for more aggressive measures. “We have to deter people from having [the] incentive of coming here,” he said.
Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, who once supported in-state tuition for undocumented students, has now reversed her stance. In 2014, as a state senator, she defended the policy, calling it “fairness with pragmatism, compassion with common sense.” But in a recent post on X, she signaled her full support for repealing the law, stating that Florida will no longer “incentivize illegal immigration.”
The move has sparked concern among immigration advocates, who warn that eliminating the tuition waiver will make college unaffordable for thousands of students.
“We are, in essence, shooting ourselves in the foot by making it a lot harder for eager, talented, driven individuals who live among our community to have access to higher education,” said Gaby Pacheco, President and CEO of TheDream.US. “It’s both a workforce issue and an education issue, and then it’s also a humanity issue… We know that somebody with a college degree will make twice as much as somebody with a high school diploma. And we know that somebody that has more money has more spending power.”
Diego Dulanto Falcon, a DACA recipient and University of South Florida student, was shocked when he heard about the proposed repeal.
“It was kind of surreal,” he said. “I definitely did benefit from the in-state tuition waiver when I was an undergrad. I mean, that was literally the only reason I was able to get through my undergraduate studies. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be here right now going for an MPH [Master of Public Health].”
According to the Florida Senate Appropriations Committee, more than 6,500 nonresident students in Florida’s college and university systems received in-state tuition waivers in the 2023-2024 academic year. The combined value of those waivers was estimated at $40.7 million.
DeSantis’s rejection of the bill adds uncertainty to its future. Despite holding a veto-proof supermajority, Florida Republican lawmakers are now facing a challenge: revise the legislation to meet the governor’s demands or attempt to override his veto without him. While DeSantis has expressed support for stricter immigration measures, he insists the legislature’s proposals are insufficient.