January 1, 2008

U. of Arizona Has Reclassified 119 Students as Out of State

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

Comments

1. $159,000 is a bargain. First, what evidence is there that the other 113 were all graduate students or dependents? If 6 came forward, there were dozens that probably did not. But even just looking at the 6, they were defrauding the state for an in-state tuition subsidy of $11,235 each year. For 6 students over 4 years, that’s $296,640.

   — AZ    Jan 1, 08:30 PM    #

2. That sounds about right for the reactionary state from which Barry Goldwater hails.

   — Donald E. Winters, Ph.D.    Jan 2, 03:36 PM    #

3. And I’ll bet that no one ever really calculates whether the staff time and work at the universities costs a LOT more than the additional monies collected. Xenophobia rules.

   — Al    Jan 2, 04:00 PM    #

4. I am a faculty member at the aforementioned university AND a taxpayer. Anyone who believes the university’s figures is living in a dream world.

   The Yuma, AZ school system reports a 5% net decline in enrollments over the two year period since it began photographing students who crossed the border each morning to attend school. Curiously, the city’s population grew by 3% over the same period. It is not too far fetched to assume that college students can avoid detection more easily than elementary and secondary students who don’t live in the country.

   We must ask more questions: Why does it cost more to do a job that employees should have been doing all along? Has the university not taken residency seriously? Or are only some non-residents overlooked?

   Xenophobia may rule but one does not have to be a xenophobe to require officials to do their jobs.

   — the jayhawk    Jan 2, 06:27 PM    #

5. The Proposition 300 should be strictly enforced. It seems that the university is not enforcing the law. Again, tax payers are being screwed by the university.

   — kvc    Jan 2, 11:43 PM    #

6. Rhetoric rules unless facts or analysis are offered. (Thanks, AZ and jayhawk.)

   — wm    Jan 3, 10:20 AM    #

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