Do you think illegal immigrants should be able to obtain in-state tuition at your local colleges?

A bill that would allow illegal residents of New Jersey to pay in-state tuition rates at public universities was defeated earlier this week.

The original intention of the bill was to make the in-state tuition—which is generally about half as high as rates for non-New Jersey residents—available to all people who attend high school in New Jersey for at least three years and attest that they will apply for citizenship.

The highly emotional outcome proved to be very disappointing for some education advocates, who argue that it’s not fair to punish college students who were only children when their parents immigrated illegally.

“It’s a defeat for a basic principle of morality and civilization, which is that you don’t punish children for what their parents did or didn’t do,” said Shai Goldstein, executive director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network.

Alluding to the state’s tight budget, they added that the bill would have brought in more paying students who would not have thought about going to college at all.

Opponents of the bill countered that the real losers in this situation are the legal New Jersey state residents who would have been deprived of the money that out-of-state tuition would bring in. The Office of Legislative Services estimated that the bill would not have any direct effect on New Jersey’s revenue, but it was also unable to determine how it would have affected college revenue.

Ten states—including New York, California, Texas, and New Mexico–allow illegal immigrants pay in-state tuition.

Do you think the outcome of the state’s decision is fair? Leave us a comment and let us know!