{"id":324843,"date":"2026-06-30T16:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/324843\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T16:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T16:51:08","slug":"florida-closes-the-door-on-undocumented-students-at-state-colleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/324843\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida closes the door on undocumented students at state colleges"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For decades, Florida’s state colleges have largely operated under an open-door admissions policy. That’s about to change.<\/p>\n

The Florida Board of Education voted Tuesday to require students enrolling at any Florida College System institution to prove they are U.S. citizens or lawfully present in the country, approving a rule that bars undocumented students from attending the state’s 28 public colleges.<\/p>\n

The rule applies to colleges including Palm Beach State College, Indian River State College, Broward College and Miami Dade College.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Florida Board of Education voted Tuesday to require students enrolling at any Florida College System institution to prove they are U.S. citizens or lawfully present in the country, approving a rule that bars undocumented students from attending the state’s 28 public colleges. (WPEC)<\/p>\n

Under the new policy, colleges must require applicants to attest they are U.S. citizens or lawfully present before admission and provide documentation before enrolling.<\/p>\n

See also: New Florida laws roll out July 1, from sex offender rules to Trump airport renaming<\/a><\/p>\n

In a separate vote, the board also approved a similar requirement for most adult general education programs, including GED preparation. Providers must establish policies to verify students are U.S. citizens or lawfully present.<\/p>\n

Both measures passed with one dissenting vote. <\/p>\n

The approvals mark another expansion of Florida’s immigration policies into higher education. The action comes roughly one year after Florida repealed a 2014 law that allowed certain undocumented students who graduated from Florida high schools to qualify for in-state tuition. Those students now generally pay out-of-state tuition rates, significantly increasing the cost of attending public colleges and universities.<\/p>\n

For years, many undocumented students who graduated from Florida high schools began their higher education at state colleges because of their lower cost and open-access admissions.<\/p>\n

See also: Venezuela earthquake: Where to donate supplies in Palm Beach County<\/a><\/p>\n

Supporters say taxpayer-funded colleges should be reserved for students who are lawfully present in the United States and that the rule is consistent with Florida’s broader immigration policies.<\/p>\n

Opponents argue the change will shut the door on students who grew up in Florida, graduated from Florida high schools and want to continue their education. They also warn colleges could lose students and tuition revenue.<\/p>\n

A recent analysis by the Florida Policy Institute <\/a>estimates Florida College System institutions could lose more than $15 million annually in tuition and fees under the new policy. The nonprofit projects Palm Beach State College could lose more than $1 million annually, while Indian River State College could lose about $230,000.<\/p>\n

The new rule does not apply to Florida’s public universities, which are governed by the separate State University System Board of Governors. That board is considering its own proposal that would restrict undocumented students from enrolling at state universities but has not taken a final vote.<\/p>\n

The Board of Education’s approval is expected to take effect after Florida’s rulemaking process is completed. It remains unclear whether students who have already been admitted or are currently enrolled will be affected, as the rule is written around admissions and enrollment requirements rather than existing students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 For decades, Florida’s state colleges have largely operated under an open-door admissions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-324843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}