Residential zone

In November 2006, Arizona passed Proposition 300, a ballot measure that stops students who are not legal U.S. residents from paying in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, from receiving state financial aid, and from taking adult classes held by the Arizona Department of Education. \nWhat this means for some is they will now have to begin paying considerably more expensive, out-of-state tuition. The measure varies from the recent settlement in the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis that allows native-born students to receive aid from Indiana's 21st Century Scholars Program because the students in question in Arizona were brought into the U.S. illegally by their parents.\nThe proposition has left Arizona's public institutions of higher education and government trying to decide how and when to implement and enforce the policies of the new law. \nThough technically institutions should check for legal status before accepting applications, loopholes have allowed undocumented aliens to enroll. One example of this is a requirement by Maricopa Community College for proof of residency at an applicant's address but not proof of legal residency, according to the Arizona Republic. \nAlthough many of the students cannot be faulted for their unknown status, we believe Proposition 300 is a fair policy. It does not bar undocumented students from attending the universities -- it only requires them to pay out-of state-tuition. In-state tuition is legally and traditionally reserved for legal residents of a state, which the undocumented students are not.\nBut we are not without sympathy for those students now faced with new financial hardship. If the policy were implemented at IU and many of our friends and colleagues were faced with the increase, we have no doubt we would sing a different tune.\nAnd any sudden implementation of this policy may be egregiously unfair to non-legal-resident students who began college under the assumption they would be paying in-state tuition rates throughout their tenure. With the thousands of dollars in debt that can pile up even from in-state tuition, the difficulties placed on those students who were not privy to all the information about the financial implications of their college choice (perhaps already cumbersome without Proposition 300) would be unreasonable. \nStudent protest has occurred with the aim of drawing support for the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which could give temporary legal status to at least 65,00 nonlegal students a year who have completed high school or the equivalent.\nWe suggest the best way to fairly implement Proposition 300 would be a gradual transition. All the students enrolled in these schools as of spring 2007 or earlier should be allowed to continue paying in-state tuition. The undocumented students who have been accepted for the fall 2007 school year and onward should be required to pay out-of-state tuition, in compliance with Proposition 300.\nAs Arizona decides how to enforce the measure, one thing is for certain: It has made a declaration in a national U.S.-Mexico border state that will have lasting effect on public views of immigration.