In all, 28 Florida state colleges would be impacted. A proposal from the Department of Education would require 28 Florida state colleges to check that all students admitted into an institution are “citizens of the United States or lawfully present in the United States.”
The DOE will hold a hearing on the rule at Miami Dade College on May 14. Written public feedback is due by May 7.
The rule only applies to public community and state colleges across Florida, not universities. Each college Board of Trustees would have to have “clear and convincing documentation” from applicants.
Lary Walker is professor at the University of Central Florida. He is concerned that if the rule passes, it could be just the first step towards a potential total state ban.
“The new rule potentially can impact tens of thousands of students in the state,” Walker told Central Florida Public Media’s ‘Engage.’ “Obviously, there are a number of possible implications. Not just simply the students being admitted to school, but whether the long term economic impact on the institutions in the region in general, which is another thing that we'll have to consider.”
In the U.S. all children have access to a public education regardless of immigration status. The U.S. The Supreme Court decided that back in 1982 with Plyer v. Doe, but it only includes K-12 education.
“[The proposal] is going to have long term implications, but you know in terms of what that looks like, we'll have to see how the next couple years play out,” Walker said. “And look at various studies in terms of not only the academic social but also the economic impact.”
The rule also allows each school’s board of trustees – the institution’s governing body – to look at an applicant’s past misconduct when deciding admission into the institution.
According to the proposal, “ a board of trustees may consider the past actions of any person applying for admission or enrollment and may deny admission or enrollment to an applicant because of misconduct if determined to be in the best interest of the Florida College System institution.” Walker said that he finds the language broad.
“As someone in higher [education], I am very interested in how colleges interpret that because that is very, very broad in terms of that kind of language,” Walker said. “I'm curious to see how individuals who are in charge of admissions, how they interpret that and how that plays out at these institutions.”
More can be found on the rule here.
