Dive Brief:
- State legislators in Missouri approved a rule change in its latest budget that prohibits offering in-state tuition to undocumented students protected by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
- The new law requires schools to charge these students out-of-state or international tuition, whichever is higher.
- Under the change, students who were brought to the U.S. by their parents as children and are protected from deportation — but still live here without any permanent residency status or visa — will see their tuition bills more than double.
Dive Insight:
Government budgets often provide a catch-all for partisan pet projects. They give legislators a chance to control the freedom of governors and presidents. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon opposes the prohibition and, in fact, argues that colleges do not have to be bound by it because the rule change was written into the introduction of the bill rather than the full text of it. At the federal level, Congress is threatening several of President Barack Obama’s initiatives with its budget powers. His gainful employment rule, for example, has taken effect but might be stripped of meaning if Congress refuses to fund enforcement and oversight activities.