Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday sued Pennsylvania State University over the public institution's policy allowing certain undocumented students to pay in-state tuition rates.
- The lawsuit marks a shift in strategy by the Trump administration amid its campaign to stomp out tuition benefits for undocumented state residents at public colleges. The DOJ filed a similar lawsuit against the University of Delaware at the start of October.
- The federal agency has already sued every state with policies offering such benefits. Most of the cases are ongoing, with the DOJ chalking up both wins and losses.
Dive Insight:
A Penn State spokesperson on Friday said the university is reviewing the DOJ’s complaint.
Undocumented students at Penn State are eligible to pay in-state tuition if they attended a Pennsylvania high school for at least four years and graduated with either a high school degree or a GED in the state, among other requirements.
In 2026-27, Penn State’s sticker price for in-state tuition at its main campus is $20,878. That’s less than half of what it charges out-of-state students, $44,574.
As in its state lawsuits, the DOJ argued in court documents that Penn State’s policy illegally provides benefits to undocumented students that are not available to all U.S. citizens.
Pennsylvania has not faced such a DOJ lawsuit as it does not offer in-state tuition to undocumented students at the state level.
Under federal immigration law, undocumented students cannot receive postsecondary education benefits based on state residency “unless a citizen or national of the United States” is also eligible regardless of residency. Some states fighting back against the DOJ in court have argued that their tuition residency policies apply equally to both citizens and U.S. residents regardless of legal status.
The federal agency has sued the following 24 states and Washington, D.C.
