Timeline:
June 4, 2025 – U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas to block in-state college tuition rates for undocumented students. Within hours, the state government of Texas asked the court to side with the DOJ and find that the law was unconstitutional and should be blocked.
August 25, 2025 – New reporting reveals that the Trump administration has now filed separate lawsuits on the same issue against Kentucky, Minnesota, and Oklahoma.
Since 2001, Texas has had a statewide law, passed with bipartisan support, which allows foreign-born students who maintain Texas residency to pay in-state tuition rates to public universities, which are much lower than out-of-state rates. In early June, DOJ filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin enforcement of Texas’s law, requiring undocumented foreign-born students to pay full tuition regardless of whether they are lawfully present in the United States. For example, students may have undocumented status, but still legally allowed to be in the U.S. through a temporary authorization like the DACA initiative (deferred action for childhood arrivals) or Temporary Protected Status.
Soon after—within just six hours, according to the Washington Post—the lawsuit was settled before any affected students had a chance to weigh in.The law was blocked by a Texas U.S. District Court judge. Reports are suggesting that the DOJ and Texas government cooperated to orchestrate this result. The ultimate impact will be that the roughly 20,000 students who qualify under the law, and who paid a reported $81 million in tuition and fees in 2021, will have to pay much higher tuition rates, likely making college unaffordable for a significant share of those students. Worsening college affordability will make it harder for undocumented students to continue their education and to remain connected to their current educational institutions if financial pressures force them to leave or pause their schooling. It will also make it harder for them to find employment that may require a college degree, possibly leading to lower wages for these students.
The administration later filed separate lawsuits seeking to end in-state tuition rates in Kentucky, Minnesota, and Oklahoma. At present, 23 states plus the District of Columbia have similar laws or policies on in-state tuition to undocumented students who have satisfied the state’s requirements for residency. If DOJ succeeds in those lawsuits, many more students will be impacted. The Trump administration may also hope to get conflicting rulings in states with Democratic and Republican administrations, with the goal of sending the issue to the Supreme Court, which could decide the issue and set a national-level rule.