Oregon’s tuition equity bill on its way to passing

A tuition equity bill is on its way to the Oregon Senate, and if legislators do what’s right, it should pass. The bill seeks to offer in-state college tuition to undocumented high school graduates who currently face out-of-state rates regardless of how long they’ve lived in Oregon. Portland State President Wim Wiewel is all for it, but it’s a controversial idea—a similar bill failed in 2011.

The basic facts: The bill would grant in-state status to undocumented students who’ve been in the U.S. for at least five years, were enrolled in an Oregon high school for at least three, and have graduated. Further, they need to have applied for citizenship or file an affidavit showing they will as soon as they are eligible.

There aren’t major differences between this bill and its failed predecessor, so why should it pass this time?

One significant reason is the increased political clout Latinos have now. Latinos, who make up the majority of immigrants, are nationally acknowledged as a major influential vote in this country. According to CNN, they make up 10 percent of the national vote and overwhelmingly favored President Barack Obama in 2012. Mitt Romney received only 27 percent of their vote, dramatically lower than the 44 percent George W. Bush received in 2004.

Republicans are still reeling from the realization that they now actually have to consider this demographic in their policies, and strategies on how to woo them began the day after Romney’s resounding defeat.

It’s telling that it took such a whipping to wake them up. Two years ago Oregon House Republicans showed little interest in Latino issues, and as a result the bill didn’t even make it out of committee.

Now it’s a different ball game. Last month, the Oregon House voted 38–18 to pass the tuition equity bill. It’s only a matter of time, then, before deserving high school students can breathe a sigh of relief and pay the same fees other Oregon residents pay.

Of course, there are still those thoroughly against the idea, most notably out-of-state students who say it’s just plain unfair. Gabrielle Morrongiello, who attends Oregon State University, is a California resident. She told The Oregonian that if the bill passed, there’d be a lawsuit on behalf of out-of-state students claiming compensation. She said giving undocumented students in-state benefits “is not tuition equity. That is confiscation and redistribution.”

Undoubtedly, it’s difficult being an out-of-state student. Universities make a sizable chunk of money off them because even if they spend the entire four years of their undergraduate education in Oregon, they’ll remain in the out-of-state category and thereby in a significantly higher price bracket.

A fellow PSU student, who moved from his home state of Colorado to pursue his undergraduate degree here in Portland, admits it’s frustrating to be stuck with the nonresident-student label. As a psychology and math major, a peer mentor with the University Studies program, a lab attendant and a Learning Center workshop leader, he understands pressure. Although he is grateful for the scholarship he receives from the mentorship program, it only covers in-state fees, so he’s still left with a significant bill. It’s stressful to say the least.

That said, he disagrees that his situation is anything like that of an undocumented student. “I chose to come to Portland,” he said, acknowledging that there are ways he could have avoided paying out-of-state tuition. He could have stayed in Colorado or chosen to take fewer credits and made work his main reason for being in Portland. That way he could have qualified for Oregon-resident status.

Undocumented students will never be in-state anywhere. Children who had no choice in moving here don’t have that luxury. The idea that they don’t belong anywhere is a travesty. They are our children, regardless of how they got here.

This new bill will finally ensure that young people who have grown up here and consider Oregon home, who will one day work here, pay taxes and add to the economy, should be rightfully acknowledged as residents and treated as such. It’s only right.