By Christine Sexton | Senior Reporter
“At its core, this regulation asks our universities to look at an academically qualified student, someone who has done the work, earned the grades, met the standards, and demonstrated that they are capable of succeeding here and tell them that none of that matters because of their immigration status.” — Florida Gulf Coast University instructor Roberto Garcia
View from the FIU campus. (Photo via FIU)
The Board of Governors approved, without debate, a rule that could annually ban as many as 8,000 undocumented Florida high school graduates from attending a state university. The new policy takes effect beginning the 2027-2028 academic school year. The move follows the Legislature’s decision last year to to repeal a 2014 law championed by Florida International University President (and former member of the state House) Jeanette Nuñez that allowed undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition.
During 11th-hour budget negotiations, the Legislature this year took steps to slow down the number of out-of-state students state universities admit by tying their budgets to a limit on-out-of-state enrollment. But some members of the Board of Governors and other university leaders said Thursday they aren’t fans of the changes and want the Legislature to revisit the law during the 2027 legislative session.
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition says it has helped more than 400 people with felony convictions who were uncertain about their legal financial obligations query the state about their voting status. The announcement comes nearly eight years after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment designed to restore voting rights to nearly 1.5 million people with felony convictions.
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