New Hampshire university students would have to swear to being legal U.S. residents to qualify for in-state tuition under a bill passed by the state Senate Wednesday on a party-line vote.
The House approved a similar bill in February, according to the New Hampshire
Union Leader, but that measure left it to the universities to determine a student’s status. The Senate version puts the responsibility on the students. The House will now have to accept the new Senate version for it to become law.
Democratic lawmakers complained both measures would put another barrier in the way of affordable tuition for state residents.
“We should be opening the doors to education to people,” said Democratic Sen. Lou D’Allesandro. “If I want to go to the bathroom, am I going to have to prove I’m a man to get into the men’s room?”
Democratic Sen. Molly Kelly also said the bill denies in-state tuition to some students who have attended New Hampshire’s public schools all their lives.
According to the Union Leader, the Senate bill resembles a federal law that prohibits illegal immigrants from getting in-state tuition at universities and colleges. Democrats complained that the bill is really about illegal immigration, saying it should be handled at the federal, not state level.
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