(NAME-MCE) In-state tuition bill would omit parent's residency Denver CO

[Anselmo Villanueva]

In a twist on the debate over extending in-state tuition rates to
undocumented students,<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/02/28/immigration>a
Colorado state senator is sponsoring legislation that would end the
state's requirement that parents meet residency requirements. *The Denver
Post* <http://www.denverpost.com/lacrosse/ci_7972145> reports that in
addition to creating difficulties for homeless and foster children, the
parental residency requirement has rendered students born in the United
States to parents present in the country illegally ineligible for in-state
rates.

Completer story below.  For related articles, go to:

http://www.denverpost.com/lacrosse/ci_7972145

In-state tuition bill would omit parent's residency

By Allison Sherry
*The Denver Post*<asherry at denverpost.com?subject=The%20Denver%20Post:%20In-state%20tuition%20bill%20would%20omit%20parent%27s%20residency>

Article Last Updated: 01/15/2008 06:08:29 AM MST

Parents' residency status would be taken out of the equation when
considering whether students deserve in-state tuition at Colorado public
colleges and universities, under a bill to be introduced this week.

State Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said she wants to change the residency
laws that require parents — not students — to have lived in the state for 12
consecutive months before a college student age 22 or younger qualifies for
in-state tuition.

This hampers foster, homeless and runaway kids, who often lose touch with
their parents. Until recently, it also kept students who were born here but
whose parents are here illegally from obtaining the cheaper tuition rate at
state schools.

"I've seen firsthand when a kid wants to go on to higher education. They've
done well in high school, and all of the sudden a roadblock is thrown in
front of them," Sandoval said. "This will help remove that."

Sandoval, who supports the Dream Act — federal legislation that would have
made it easier for states to offer in-state tuition to students who are
illegal immigrants — said this is different because it affects only U.S.
citizens.

The Dream Act is highly divisive nationally and was defeated in the U.S.
Senate in October.

"The Dream Act is another topic for another day," she said.

Metropolitan State College of Denver president Steve Jordan said he didn't
want this to spark an immigration debate within the Capitol.

Jordan said dozens of Metro students who have trouble proving their parents'
residency are stuck in the system morass — mostly homeless and foster kids.

"Don't we want to invest in the young people in Colorado?" he said. "This is
more than about immigration ... but I'm fully cognizant that this will spark
a hornet's nest."

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers weighed in on this issue last summer,
finding that legal citizen students of illegal immigrant parents qualify for
in-state tuition.

Before Suthers' six-page opinion, schools across Colorado were applying the
law differently, including Jordan at Metro State, who charged these students
the out-of-state rate — which runs several thousand dollars more each
semester.

The two-page draft of Sandoval's bill simply says that any U.S. citizen who
went to a Colorado high school for three years would be eligible to receive
in-state tuition.

Current laws require students to be 23 years old before they can seek the
in-state tuition rates on their own.

This is where Serena Church has run into trouble.

The 21-year-old has been on her own since her mother died in 2006. She had a
troubled adolescence, and was in and out of jail, foster homes and on the
streets. Since she had a daughter nine months ago, she's been trying to put
her life in order and go back to school.

But the fact she doesn't have parents has been a hurdle.

She's too old for high school, so she's seeking a GED through the Community
College of Denver, where she wants to eventually get certification to be an
assistant nurse.

But the paperwork to get in-state tuition has been a nightmare. Church and a
nonprofit social worker have spent hours in line trying to prove her late
mother was a state resident, even though Church has a Colorado birth
certificate.

"It can pull a nerve," said Church, after taking her mother's death
certificate to the community college's enrollment office Monday.