A California appeals court has revived a lawsuit challenging a state law that allows some illegal immigrants and other nonresidents to pay in-state tuition, a decision that some lawyers involved in the case said could have ripple effects on other states with similar laws, the Contra Costa Times reported.

The 2001 law allows students who attended California high schools for at least three years, including undocumented immigrants, to pay the same, lower tuition rate as a California resident. Undocumented immigrants receiving the exemption must also promise to actively seek U.S. citizenship.

The lawsuit, which sought class-action status, was brought by out-of-state students against California’s three public higher-education systems: the University of California, California State University, and the community colleges. The plaintiffs said the law violated both federal immigration law and the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The case was dismissed in 2006 by a judge in the State Superior Court in Yolo County.

The Third District Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the lower court had erred in dismissing the suit. The appeals court called the law a “surrogate residence requirement” that is unfair to out-of-state students who pay higher fees.

Officials at all three higher-education systems were still debating whether to appeal the decision, according to news reports. —Reeves Wiedeman