Key features of Colorado SB13-033 - in-state tuition for illegal aliens bill
A summary of key features of SB13-033 - "In-state Classification CO High School Completion" - providing instate tuition for illegal aliens.
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2006 HB 1023 was the most important immigration sanity bill to come out of the 2006 special session. This bill limits state services to illegal aliens and embodies the essence of the 2006 Defend Colorado Now initiative.
SB13-033 overrides that law. The bill amends current law (24-76.5-103) to grant an exception to denial of public benefits to persons who cannot prove lawful presence established by state law according to the 2006 special session legislation bill HB06s-1023.
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SB13-033 drops any mention of "unsubsidized tuition" rates.
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SB13-033 establishes eligibility for the instate tuition rate for high school graduates who attended the school for at least three years or earned a GED after three years attendance. The bill defines eligible students in the same manner as in similar bills introduced during the prior two sessions.
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SB13-033 allows students to attend Colorado institutions of higher education but and also any institution participating in the state’s reciprocity agreement, for example neighboring states like Utah and New Mexico. Colorado likely would grant similar privileges to illegal alien students from those same states participating in the reciprocity agreement.
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Students will be eligible for College Opportunity Trust funds and other student aid. This is a change from previous bills.
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As is the case with the 2012 bill, SB13-033 makes no reference to the 1996 federal law prohibiting tuition breaks for illegal alien students except where the same rate is afforded to all US residents. (That law would effectively abolish out-of-state tuition and result in huge tuition losses to state institutions).
SB13-033 bypasses this issue by using the "California model," avoiding the term "resident" and instead associating eligibility with attendance at a Colorado high school.
- Since there is no date by when high school graduates will no longer qualify for instate tuition; the instate tuition eligibility will apply to illegal aliens in the future, as well as current residents.