Federal Court Strikes Down Florida Tuition Rule: Ruiz v. Robinson

"This case is about regulations of the Florida State Board of Education and the Florida Board of Governors that classify students who are United States citizens and reside in the State of Florida as "out of state" residents because their parents, who also reside in Florida, are undocumented for federal immigration purposes.  As a result of this classification, these Florida residents must pay significantly higher tuition rates to attend the State's public post-secondary educational institutions and are denied the preferential treatment that residents receive throughout the admissions process at several of these institutions.  ... [C]lassifying U.S. citizen students who reside in Florida according to their parents' undocumented federal immigration status does not advance any legitimate State interest, much less the State's important interest in furthering educational opportunities for its own residents.  Accordingly, Defendants' regulations must fail because they deny to each of these United States citizens the equal protection of the laws as guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution." - Ruiz v. Robinson, Aug. 31, 2012.