by Travis Morgan
Amidst a budget crisis, Pennsylvania State University offers in-state tuition rates to qualifying illegal immigrants while American citizens across the country are charged out-of-state tuition.
An admissions page on the university’s website states that “Undocumented students, with or without DACA, can be eligible for in-state tuition if they meet Penn State’s residency requirements.”
Penn State’s tuition page shows that while tuition and fees amount to $19,284 for Pennsylvania residents, out-of-state students are paying more than double this amount, at $38,651.
Moreover, foreign students who legally immigrated to the United States to study at Penn State paid more than even out-of-state students, as tuition and fees amounted to $40,151.
Anthony Ditizio, a 2022 graduate of Penn State, told Campus Reform that “it isn’t fair that American Citizens from out-of-state are having to pay more for tuition than some illegal immigrants,” and that “learning about this was definitely a bit of a shock.”
While Ditizio understands “what the school is going for,” he stated that American citizens “deserve to have a chance at an affordable education, especially if their tax dollars have gone to funding the American school system.”
Penn State’s current budget crisis –– despite being one of the most expensive public universities in the nation –– has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, noting that spending increased 36 percent from 2002 to 2022, while enrollment only increased 14 percent in that time.
“Total tuition and fee revenue from both undergraduate and graduate students increased 72% over the past two decades, far faster than enrollment grew,” the article noted.
Earlier this year, Campus Reform reported that Penn State’s budget plan, which prioritized supporting institutional leadership needs, included “expanding Penn State’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) capacities.”
Ditizio told Campus Reform that it’s “definitely a bit frustrating that tuition is rising if the money is being spent on things that are unnecessary.”
“I believe that these criticisms are important because it is our responsibility to constantly pressure the organizations we care about to do better and better, and hold them accountable, but I also think that there is a lot of good that they do,” he concluded.
Campus Reform has covered other universities offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants, including the University of North Texas, where the Young Conservatives of Texas filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against the university.
Penn State did not respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment in time for publication.
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Travis Morgan is a California Correspondent with Campus Reform. Travis Morgan is a law student at Empire College School of Law. Travis graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in history. Fascinated by American law, politics, and history, Travis plans to become an attorney, conservative columnist, and history author. His goal is to expose liberal bias and abuse occurring daily on college campuses while pursuing his J.D.
Photo “Penn State Students” by Penn State.
Some times things like this really tick a person off. Both of my children, born and raised in Pennsylvania, needed loans to pay their tuition to PennState. It was hard because we had a small business and funding their quest for education wasn’t easy. To make it more insulting, they are offering in-state tuition. Are these the same young people , the ghost flight “children” who were flown into PA and salted into towns incognito, for “their” protection…as I was told by the assistant to one of my representatives. .”Children” who looked to be late teens in age, healthy looking young men…almost regimentally healthy. Aside from the poor education citizens children receive, from the start, they don’t offer free college to citizens. Can anyone explain to me why politicians and Woke educators keep shoving their insanity down our throats?