Rhode Island one of 14 states being sued by DOJ over in-state tuition, assistance for undocumented students

State expanded eligibility just 11 days before the federal lawsuit; the number of students receiving the benefit remains unclear

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW

The essential facts when time is short.

• The U.S. Department of Justice sued Rhode Island on June 29 over state laws allowing qualifying undocumented students to receive in-state tuition and certain state-funded college assistance.
• Rhode Island lawmakers had expanded the tuition law just 11 days earlier. The legislation was sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone III and Rep. Grace Diaz and signed by Gov. Dan McKee.
• No official public count has been located showing exactly how many undocumented students at URI, Rhode Island College and CCRI receive in-state tuition or state assistance. An outside estimate suggests approximately 1.2% of Rhode Island’s total college population is undocumented—roughly 900 students across public and private institutions—but that is not the number necessarily receiving these benefits.
• Minnesota successfully resisted a similar DOJ lawsuit in federal district court. DOJ has appealed. The department’s four announced victories were obtained through consent judgments rather than fully contested trials.
• Rhode Island’s Council on Postsecondary Education says it is consulting with its attorneys but will not comment further while the lawsuit is pending. Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office has said it will aggressively defend the state’s laws.

THE REST OF THE STORY

The reporting, context and documents when you have more time.

The U.S. Department of Justice has placed Rhode Island among the states it is suing in a widening effort to end in-state tuition and state-funded college assistance for undocumented students.

The Rhode Island case was filed June 29 in U.S. District Court in Providence, alongside a separate case against Massachusetts. It attracted renewed attention Thursday when DOJ announced its 14th lawsuit, this time against Colorado, and listed Rhode Island among the cases still pending.

The Rhode Island defendants are the State of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Board of Education, the Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education and Commissioner of Postsecondary Education Shannon Gilkey.

The federal government is asking the court to declare portions of Rhode Island’s Student Success Act, RI Promise Scholarship and RI Hope Scholarship laws unconstitutional and permanently prohibit their enforcement.

The complete Justice Department complaint against Rhode Island is available here.

DOJ argues that federal law prohibits states from granting a postsecondary education benefit to someone who is not lawfully present based on state residency unless the same benefit is available to every U.S. citizen, regardless of where that citizen lives.

Rhode Island’s law allows students meeting specific Rhode Island high-school requirements to avoid paying nonresident tuition, regardless of their immigration status. Qualifying students may also apply for certain state and institutional assistance through the Rhode Island Alternative Application for State Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance.

DOJ describes that as preferential treatment because an undocumented student educated in Rhode Island can receive the lower rate while a U.S. citizen from another state generally pays nonresident tuition.

Who changed the Rhode Island law?

Rhode Island first extended in-state tuition to qualifying undocumented students through a Board of Governors for Higher Education policy adopted in 2011.

The General Assembly placed the policy into state law through the Student Success Act in 2021. The General Assembly placed the policy into state law through the Student Success Act in 2021. At a ceremonial signing at CCRI’s Liston Campus, Gov. Dan McKee called education “a promise for a better future” and described the legislation as expanding equity and access. RINewsToday reported on the legislation and signing at the time.

Lawmakers expanded it again during the 2026 session. The principal sponsors of the latest legislation—2026-H 8252 and 2026-S 2650—were Senate Majority Leader Frank A. Ciccone III and Rep. Grace Diaz. House cosponsors were Reps. Scott Slater, José Batista and Leonela Felix. Senate cosponsors were Sens. Jonathon Acosta, Tiara Mack, Ana Quezada and Lammis Vargas.

The House approved the amended bill 61–9 on June 10. The Senate approved it 34–4 the following day. Gov. Dan McKee signed it on June 18, and it took effect July 1.

The amended law reduced the required attendance at an approved Rhode Island high school from three consecutive years to two and eliminated the previous immigration-status affidavit. It made the exemption available to any student who meets the remaining statutory requirements.

DOJ filed its lawsuit 11 days after McKee signed the change—and two days before it took effect.

DOJ acknowledged the new law in a footnote to its complaint but argued that attendance at and graduation from a Rhode Island high school remain “near perfect proxies for residence.”

Ciccone said the expansion would place higher education within reach of more young people, including those relatively new to Rhode Island. Diaz said students who call Rhode Island home deserve the same educational opportunities as other Rhode Island students.

How many students are receiving the benefit?

That remains one of the largest unanswered questions.

The Higher Ed Immigration Portal estimates that undocumented students constitute approximately 1.2% of Rhode Island’s college population.

Using federal enrollment figures, that would suggest roughly 900 undocumented students attending all public and private Rhode Island colleges and universities combined.

But that does not reveal:

• How many attend URI, Rhode Island College or CCRI;
• How many currently receive an in-state tuition exemption;
• How many filed Rhode Island Alternative Applications;
• How many receive RI Promise, RI Hope or other state and institutional assistance;
• The total dollar value of the tuition differences and assistance; or
• How many additional students became eligible under the 2026 expansion.

RINewsToday has requested those numbers and comment from the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner. Its response will be added when/if received.

What is the tuition difference?

At the University of Rhode Island, full-time undergraduate tuition for 2026–27 is $15,684 for a Rhode Island resident and $37,350 for a nonresident—a difference of $21,666 before fees, housing and other expenses.

The DOJ complaint contains an apparent error on this point. It says URI charges non-Rhode Island residents approximately $17,116. According to URI’s official tuition schedule, $17,116 is the graduate in-state tuition figure—not undergraduate nonresident tuition.

DOJ correctly cites the undergraduate resident tuition as $15,684 but appears to compare it with the wrong figure.

At Rhode Island College, the complaint lists annual tuition of approximately $5,230.50 for residents and $13,799.50 for nonresidents.

Pell Grants, others, not involved

Undocumented students are already ineligible for federal Pell Grants, federal work-study and Federal Direct Loans. They may instead qualify for state, institutional or privately funded assistance.

That makes Rhode Island’s tuition rate and state-assistance programs particularly consequential: for many undocumented students, federal college assistance was never available in the first place.

Rhode Island officials respond

Asked by RINewsToday about the federal lawsuit, the Rhode Island Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner provided the following statement from Beth Bailey, its chief communications officer:

“The Rhode Island Council on Postsecondary Education is consulting with its legal team and advisors regarding the complaint filed by the Department of Justice in the Rhode Island Federal District Court. Since this matter involves pending litigation, the council has no further comment.”

The statement did not indicate whether the council intends to contest the lawsuit, whether colleges have received guidance or how many students could be affected. Rhode Island’s law remains in effect unless and until a court orders otherwise.

On the day the lawsuit was announced, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office said it had not yet been formally served. “These in-state tuition laws have served all Rhode Islanders well,” spokesman Timothy Rondeau told Rhode Island Current. Rondeau added that the public could be reassured that the attorney general’s office would continue to “aggressively defend this state’s laws against unlawful overreach by this administration.”

No separate public response has been located from Commissioner Gilkey, URI, Rhode Island College or CCRI.

Has any state successfully resisted?

Yes—Minnesota.

In March, a federal judge granted Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s motion to dismiss DOJ’s challenge to the Minnesota Dream Act and North Star Promise Act.

The judge agreed that Minnesota’s eligibility requirements were based on attending and graduating from a Minnesota high school—not simply legal residence. The court also ruled that DOJ lacked standing to sue Minnesota’s governor and attorney general.

DOJ appealed the decision to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in May, so Minnesota’s victory is not final.

The Minnesota ruling could matter in Rhode Island because the newly amended Rhode Island law also relies heavily on high-school attendance and graduation. Rhode Island could argue that eligibility is based on a student’s education rather than residency. DOJ, however, has already signaled that it will argue those requirements are substitutes for residency.

How DOJ obtained its other “wins”

DOJ says four lawsuits—in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Nebraska—produced orders permanently blocking comparable laws.

In Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska, state officials agreed with DOJ and joined in proposed consent judgments ending their own programs. Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education also agreed to a consent judgment after Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear argued that he lacked authority to enforce or repeal the law.

Minnesota took the opposite course: the state defended its statutes and, at least at the trial-court level, won.

Cases involving Illinois, Virginia, California, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maryland remain pending, along with the Minnesota appeal and the newly filed Colorado case.

For now, Rhode Island’s law remains in effect while the lawsuit proceeds.