Clara-Meretan Kiah/Contributing Writer
Members of Students Working for Equal Rights celebrated a landmark victory when Governor Rick Scott signed off on a new law that allows undocumented students to apply for in-state tuition at public colleges and universities in Florida.
The Postsecondary Tuition Bill, or SB 1400, states that undocumented students who attended a Florida high school for three years prior to graduation now qualify for a waiver that eliminates the out-of-state differential in tuition costs.
While the University became the first public institution in Florida to offer a non-resident tuition waiver to undocumented students during Fall 2013, SB 1400 makes this policy a statewide standard as of July 1, 2014.
Ediberto Román, professor at the FIU College of Law, says the push for the University to offer the waiver early came not only from the need for education equality in South Florida, but the courage and foresight of university leaders, including former-provost Douglas Wartzok and professor of linguistics Edward Erazo.
While undocumented students previously had to qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to apply for the tuition waiver at FIU, the new law allows all undocumented students to apply, regardless of being “DACAmented.”
Starting this fall, undocumented students will only have to pay in-state tuition, which is one-third the cost of out-of-state tuition at FIU.
A student who qualifies for in-state tuition at FIU will pay $203.59 per credit this year, which amounts to $6,506.48 total for 30 credits, including annual fees. An out-of-state student will pay $616.89 per credit, or a total of $18,905.48 for 30 credits.
“When we got out of high school, our counselors told us we couldn’t go to school or get financial aid,” said Francis Tume, a sophomore international business major and SWER’s treasurer. “It made me feel like I couldn’t do anything. I was afraid to even try to go to school.”
“But the new law will make it easier for people to go to school and achieve their dreams.”
Along with their political efforts, SWER offers a variety of services to undocumented students on campus. With the help of law professor Juan Gomez, the University’s chapter holds clinics to help students apply to become DACAmented. The organization also offers retreats where students in the group learn leadership skills, politics, and share their stories with one another.
“One of our plans now is to give workshops to help students apply for the tuition waiver,” says Jorge Tume, a sophomore majoring in film production at Miami-Dade College and chair of SWER’s board of directors.
Before the law passed this summer, members of SWER travelled to Tallahassee and Washington, D.C., multiple times to advocate for immigration reform at both the state and federal level.
In the wake of their victory with SB 1400, members of SWER at the University feel it is time to pursue a federal law guaranteeing in-state tuition for undocumented students everywhere.
“The time is right, but there is only so much citizens alone can do,” says Professor Román. “This is a classic D.C. stalemate that’s been going on for decades. Now we must ask senators like Marco Rubio to push for comprehensive immigration reform.”
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