Trump administration sues Maryland over college tuition for undocumented students

The United States Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the state of Maryland over policies that offer undocumented students in-state tuition at public colleges.

The lawsuit, which also names the Maryland Higher Education Commission and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents as defendants, argues that granting undocumented immigrants who live in Maryland in-state tuition unconstitutionally discriminates against U.S. citizens and creates incentives for illegal immigration.

“This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate in a statement. “This Department of Justice will not tolerate American students being treated like second-class citizens in their own country.”

Undocumented students don’t qualify for federal financial aid, which means they’re limited in how they can pay for college. In Maryland, these students can receive in-state tuition if they attended high school in Maryland and submit two years of their family’s tax returns to show residency.

About 2,000 undocumented students graduate from high schools in Maryland each year. According to a presentation released by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, 496 undocumented students were receiving in-state tuition at the state’s community colleges and 309 paying in-state rates at public universities.

Officials at the higher education commission and university system did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office, the U.S. Department of Justice has issued 13 challenges to states offering in-state tuition to these students. Similar policies in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Nebraska have ended following DOJ lawsuits, while challenges in Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are still pending.

In Thursday’s lawsuit against Maryland, the federal government argued that between summer of 2024 and spring of 2025, undocumented students saved nearly $9 million in tuition costs at Maryland community colleges and public four-year universities by receiving in-state tuition benefits.

The DOJ is arguing that the policy is illegal because the state’s public universities don’t offer in-state tuition to all American citizens, which they believe shows a preference for undocumented students.

“Illegal aliens present in the United States are not eligible for postsecondary education benefits based on state residency unless those same benefits are also offered to all American citizens, regardless of their state of residence,” the lawsuit argues.

The Department also cited an Executive Order signed by Trump in February 2025, ordering federal departments and agencies to “ensure, to the maximum extent permitted by law, that no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.”

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