This article has been updated since publication.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Committee on Innovation, Data, and Educational Analytics recommended adoption of new rules that will prohibit public colleges and universities from providing tuition subsidies to individuals not lawfully present in the United States. The full board will vote on these changes Thursday.
A 28-page committee document contains the rule changes, which consolidate several previous sections of the coordinating board’s rules. It requires all applicants for “resident” tuition status to prove their lawful presence in the U.S. as defined by federal law.
The committee also clarified that “applicable case law and federal orders indicate that [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] DACA recipients are not lawfully present and thus ineligible to receive the benefit of Texas resident tuition on that basis.” The committee stated that “each institution of higher education is required to comply with federal court rulings in making determinations of lawful presence.”
It also requires each institution to appoint a Resident Status Determination Official, maintain records, and notify lawfully present students of their duty to apply for permanent residency.
The rule change was necessary to implement a consent agreement Texas reached with the federal government in June. That consent agreement prohibited Texas from providing preferential tuition rates to illegal aliens.
Dr. Charles Contero-Puls, assistant commissioner for financial aid programs, testified that the coordinating board had conducted “a full review” of the policy over the previous year. He also stated that UT-Austin’s legal team helped the coordinating board write the new language.
According to the committee report on its rule change, one of UT-Austin’s proposals was to use new language that placed on the applicant “the burden to prove by clear and convincing evidence” his or her “lawful presence” in America and “lawful entitlement” to resident status. Contero-Puls cautioned, however, that the federal government determined the definition of “lawful presence.” As such, it could be subject to change outside the board’s control.
Two groups testified against the rule change at the meeting.
Trudy Taylor Smith of the Children’s Defense Fund stated that the rule change perpetuates “an incomplete and inaccurate understanding of lawful presence.”
Denisse Molina, representing the Texas Civil Rights Project, testified that she was born in Mexico and brought to Brownsville as a toddler. She attended UT-RGV as an illegal alien and was elected student body president.
“Anything less [than continued in-state tuition] is a betrayal,” she said.
The full coordinating board will consider the matter on Thursday. If the board accepts the committee recommendation, the policy change will apply to Spring 2026.
Board members and the commissioner are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate.
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