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Colorado Senate Votes to Subsidize Tuition for Illegal Aliens

Without debate, the Colorado Senate last Monday passed S.B. 15, legislation that would subsidize tuition for illegal aliens attending State colleges and universities. (Denver Post, Apr. 10, 2012) The bill, also entitled the "ASSET" bill, passed along party lines, without a single Senate Republican voting in favor of the legislation. (See votes here)
The ASSET bill subsidizes tuition for illegal aliens by allowing them to pay a rate slightly higher than in-state levels. The bill accomplishes this by requiring that illegal aliens pay, in addition to in-state tuition, an amount equal to the "college opportunity fund stipend." (S.B. 15 at §1(7); see also Colorado Dept. of Higher Education Policy) The "college opportunity fund stipend" is money provided by the State to Colorado residents to defray the cost of in-state tuition; the Colorado legislature sets the stipend amount annually. (See Colorado Dept. of Higher Education Policy § 4.01)
Media reports estimate illegal aliens could save tens of thousands of dollars annually if the ASSET bill is passed into law. According to the Associated Press, under the ASSET bill an illegal alien student attending the University of Colorado at Boulder would pay only $9,500 annually, compared with an estimated $7,700 for in-state tuition and about $28,850 for out-of-state. (The Houston Chronicle, Jan. 17, 2012)
Nonetheless, advocates of the ASSET bill are downplaying the legislation's benefits. In fact, State Senator Michael Johnston, a co-sponsor of the legislation, argues that under the bill illegal aliens will still be paying "substantially" more than their legal resident counterparts. (Id.) "Even though [illegal aliens] are going to be paying substantially more than their in-state colleagues, it still gives them a chance at access they wouldn't have otherwise," he said. (Id.)
Currently, illegal aliens may attend Colorado's public colleges and universities, but are required to pay out-of-state tuition pursuant to federal law. In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA), which provided that public colleges and universities could not favor illegal aliens over U.S. citizens and legal residents by granting them in-state tuition while requiring those legally in the country to pay much higher out-of-state rates. (See IIRAIRA § 505, 8 U.S.C. 1623)
The ASSET bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Colorado House, where it awaits action by the House Education and Appropriations Committee. (See Bill History)