After two days of confusion over whether North Carolina’s 58 community colleges may admit illegal immigrants, federal officials cleared the air somewhat on Friday, stating that “it is left for the school to decide whether or not to enroll” those students, The News & Observer reported today.

In a statement released by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, the officials said, “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not require any school to determine a student’s status.” The statement, issued at the request of the newspaper, noted that illegal immigrants were subject to being prosecuted and deported. But the statement said colleges were not required to report such students unless they had violated the terms of their student visas under the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.

Earlier this week, a lawyer in the North Carolina attorney general’s office issued a letter advising the colleges to drop their policy of admitting all illegal immigrants who meet the institutions’ other eligibility criteria. The lawyer said the policy appeared to conflict with federal law.

The letter, which said admission should be limited to students who meet standards outlined in federal law, contradicted a community-college policy based on a 1997 opinion by the state’s attorney general at the time — Michael F. Easley, a Democrat who is now governor. Governor Easley said this week that the colleges should continue enrolling illegal immigrants while any confusion over federal law was sorted out.

In a short statement on Friday, the state attorney general’s office said that its advisory letter earlier in the week had told colleges to “rely on the Department of Homeland Security for guidance,” The News & Observer reported.

Also on Friday, community-college officials released a new estimate of how many illegal immigrants were enrolled in the system: 112 out of 297,000 degree-seeking students. —Andrew Mytelka