Does federal law prohibit undocumented aliens from attending public colleges or universities?
Steve: No. Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982), held that it was illegal for a state to deny school-aged undocumented aliens the right to a free education. The Supreme Court relied on the equal protection doctrine, which prohibits a state or the federal government from denying equal protection of the laws to any “person” (not just U.S. citizens). No federal law has overruled Plyler. The closest provision is section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), which prohibits states from providing a postsecondary education benefit to an alien not lawfully present in the United States on the basis of the alien’s residence in their state unless the state would also provide the same benefit to a citizen or national residing in another state. Translated into plain English, as best as I can tell this provision bars public colleges from charging undocumented aliens the in-state tuition rate, since they would be treated more favorably than out-of-stat
