Florida is closing its public colleges and universities to students who cannot prove they are in the country legally, while the Trump administration is suing the states that continue to accept these students. For the roughly 525,000 undocumented students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, according to the American Immigration Council (AIC), the two fronts are narrowing the options quickly.
Florida’s restrictions came through administrative rule, not legislation. On June 30, the State Board of Education adopted Rule 6A-10.0240, which requires each Florida college system board of trustees to adopt a policy ensuring that every admitted student is a U.S. citizen or is lawfully present in the country. Applicants must attest to their status before being admitted and provide documentation before they enroll.
In September, the Florida Board of Governors voted unanimously to amend Regulation 6.001, which bars new students who are in the United States unlawfully from selective public universities beginning in 2027-28. All 12 state universities currently use selective admissions, according to the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE). Together, the policies cover the state’s 28 public colleges and 12 universities.
However, the state legislature never signed off. Similar bills died in committee during the 2026 session, and critics argue the boards overstepped their authority. A bipartisan panel that reviews agency rules also warned that letting each college design its own verification process could produce different outcomes at different schools. The state has not said whether DACA recipients are covered.
Supporters Cite Priorities; Opponents Cite Costs
Supporters frame the change as a question of who public institutions should serve. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said the rule simply requires colleges to verify status, and he has described it in terms of Florida residents.
“I would rather have that spot go to a Florida resident,” DeSantis said following the policy change.
Opponents point to the students themselves. Nearly 60,000 undocumented students are enrolled in Florida higher education institutions, per AIC, and roughly 8,000 graduate from the state’s high schools each year, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal.
The Florida Education Association (FEA) and United Faculty of Florida (UFF) rallied against the university rule before the Sept. 3 vote, and said the Board of Governors approved it unanimously with no discussion, despite public opposition. UFF President Robert Cassanello said the rule undermines the state’s own workforce needs.
“The Board of Governors has lost sight of its responsibility to safeguard higher education for the common good,” Cassanello said. “Rather than increasing our university system’s capacity to educate Florida’s future workers and leaders, this rule stymies growth and closes doors that have helped our communities, which is especially devastating at a time when Florida faces critical shortages in healthcare, education, and skilled trades.”
FEA President Andrew Spar argued the ban does nothing to address the pressures facing Florida families and wastes the state’s investment in students it has already educated.
“Stripping away the opportunity for children educated in Florida’s public schools to access higher education does nothing to help families deal with the real challenges they face, like a worsening affordability crisis, lack of affordable housing, or skyrocketing healthcare insurance costs,” Spar said. “Florida has already invested in the future of these students, many of whom were brought here as children through no fault of their own. Forfeiting that investment is not only wasteful, but it also harms our communities and Florida’s economic future.”
The Florida Policy Institute estimates the college ban alone will cost the system $15 million a year in lost tuition and fees, even as colleges already struggle with declining enrollment.
Researchers at AIC and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration who study the undocumented population say these students are already contributing. Steven Hubbard, PhD, a senior data scientist at AIC; Miriam Feldblum, PhD, the co-founder, president and CEO of the Presidents’ Alliance; and Corinne Kentor, PhD, the senior manager of research and policy at the Alliance, make that case in an August fact sheet about undocumented students in U.S. higher education.
“Undocumented students and graduates contribute as entrepreneurs and taxpayers, advancing economic prosperity even when they face constraints on their postgraduate professional pathways,” Hubbard, Feldblum, and Kentor write.
Other States Already Bar Undocumented Students
Florida is not the first state to take this step. The Higher Ed Immigration Portal classifies Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, like Florida, as having the most restrictive tier of policies for undocumented students, which actively bans enrollment at all or some public institutions.
Alabama’s H.B. 56, signed in June 2011, bars undocumented students from enrolling in any public college or university and from receiving in-state tuition or state financial aid. The law also blocks undocumented residents from professional and occupational licenses. DACA recipients might still be eligible to enroll at certain institutions including Auburn University, Troy University, and the University of Alabama campuses, the portal says.
South Carolina’s H.B. 4400, signed in June 2008, also bars undocumented students from all public colleges and universities, along with receiving in-state tuition, scholarships, and grants. The state’s Commission on Higher Education has determined that DACA recipients may enroll but cannot receive in-state tuition or state aid. Undocumented students make up about 1.2% of South Carolina’s college students, compared with 1.1% in Alabama.
Georgia takes a narrower approach. Its Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6 prohibits undocumented students, including DACA recipients, from enrolling at any University System of Georgia institution that did not admit all academically qualified applicants in the two most recent academic years. That keeps them from attending schools such as the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, and a federal appeals court upheld the policy in March 2019. Georgia also requires undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition and denies them state aid.
Since the summer 2026 term, a Georgia Student Finance Commission change also ended access to state-funded dual enrollment for undocumented students, DACA recipients, and others without eligible status. The portal estimates Georgia has 16,306 undocumented students in higher education and about 3,000 undocumented high school graduates each year.
Federal Lawsuits Target Tuition
The federal government is pressing from the other direction. On Sept. 10, the Department of Justice filed its final four complaints against Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Arkansas, and Utah, bringing the total to 25 lawsuits challenging in-state tuition for undocumented students. The department argues the laws discriminate against U.S. citizens and conflict with federal law.
Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division framed the cases as a matter of fairness to citizens in the department’s announcement.
“This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country,” Shumate said.
The department has momentum. Courts in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois, and Kansas have permanently blocked similar laws, including an order from the Fifth Circuit, the DOJ says. Kansas’ law was struck down the day before the latest filings. Cases remain pending in 15 other jurisdictions including Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, California, and New York.
The suits target tuition rates and financial aid rather than admission, but the practical effect is similar: higher costs for students and legal uncertainty for the institutions serving them. The AIC and Presidents’ Alliance fact sheet takes a dim view of the trend.
“Recent rollbacks of in-state tuition access in several states, largely due to lawsuits brought by the U.S. Department of Justice combined with state actions to end access, represent a significant break from two decades of gradual expansion,” Hubbard, Feldblum, and Kentor write, warning of consequences for the states involved. “As a result, states that introduce restrictive policies may see reductions in academic performance, increases in food and housing insecurity, and changes in degree attainment and local workforce participation in future years.”
The report also notes that fewer than one in four undocumented students have access to DACA, the program that offers work authorization and protection from deportation.
What Comes Next
The next test in Florida may come in the 2027 legislative session, when lawmakers could write the bans into law, limit them, or leave them alone. Elsewhere, the outcome will depend on rulings in the pending cases.
