By Bob Katzen

Bill(H 637) –Prohibits Massachusetts state universities from offering lower in-state tuition and fees to illegal immigrants and their children. Currently, the lower tuition rate is offered to legal citizens who live in the Bay State and Massachusetts students who have been accepted into the federal program for those who immigrated illegally to the country as children and have a work permit.

Supporters of the ban say the state should not offer financial rewards to anyone who has broken the law and is in this country illegally. They argued it is outrageous to offer low tuition rates to these students while legal citizens from outside Massachusetts, including war veterans, are required to pay higher rates if they attend a Massachusetts state university.

Opponents of the ban say many of these students were babies when they were brought here by their parents and had no choice about entering the country illegally. They noted some hardworking students are currently required to pay out-of-state tuition rates that are significantly higher than the in-state rate.