Under Proposition 300, some 119 students at the University of Arizona have been reclassified from “in state” to “out of state” status since July, according to a report filed yesterday by the university, and reported in the Tucson Citizen.

Proposition 300, which was passed in November 2006, makes out-of-state tuition mandatory for illegal immigrants and bars them from receiving state financial aid. Tuition at the University of Arizona is $16,281 for out-of-state students but only $5,046 for state residents.

Colleges and universities in the state have spent thousands of dollars trying to comply with the new law, which requires a twice-yearly report on efforts to document students’ status. In June the University of Arizona reported that 877 students had failed to document their residency status. While 758 provided that documentation, 119 did not. Of those, six came forward to say that they could not do so.

The Citizen reported that, rather than force the six to drop out, the University of Arizona Foundation and other donors would pay those students’ tuition, totaling about $70,000. Paul R. Kohn, vice provost for enrollment management and dean of admissions, told the newspaper that the other 113 were probably graduate students whose aid covers out-of-state tuition, or children of university employees who thought they didn’t need to verify their residency status.

The Citizen said the University of Arizona spent $159,000 carrying out the requirements of Proposition 300. —Heidi Landecker