The U.S. Department of Justice alleges Kentucky is violating federal law by allowing high school graduates without legal status to get in-state tuition for state colleges and universities.
“No state can be allowed to treat Americans like second-class citizens in their own country by offering financial benefits to illegal aliens,” said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. “The Department of Justice just won on this exact issue in Texas, and we look forward to fighting in Kentucky to protect the rights of American citizens.”
The DOJ filed a similar lawsuit against Texas earlier this month, and the state reversed course within hours, coming to an agreement to end in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants. It appears to be the latest crusade of the Trump administration to target illegal immigration.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed executive orders to ensure that “no taxpayer-funded benefits go to unqualified aliens.” Trump claimed that such benefits are “siphoning dollars and essential services from American citizens.”
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, names Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher and the Council on Postsecondary Education. Spokespeople for both the governor and education department said they have no authority over the regulation in question.
According to Crystal Staley, Beshear’s spokesperson, the governor’s office had not been served with the lawsuit or been given any advance notice. She said the Council on Postsecondary Education issued the regulation before 2010.
“Under Kentucky law, CPE is independent, has sole authority to determine student residency requirements for the purposes of in-state tuition, and controls its own regulations,” Staley said. “The governor has no authority to alter CPE’s regulations and should not be a party to the lawsuit.”
A spokesperson for the council said their attorneys began reviewing the lawsuit Wednesday morning and are unable to provide further comment.
The regulation creates a pathway for those who don’t have legal status, but live and attend high school in Kentucky to gain access to in-state tuition. It also requires people who hold refugee status, permanent residency visas or certain nonimmigrant visas to establish residency if they want in-state tuition. The regulation doesn’t allow certain visa holders to get in-state tuition, for example people holding temporary travel visas for business or pleasure or those holding student visas.
The DOJ argued that the regulation conflicts with a federal law that prohibits public colleges and universities from providing benefits to people who are living in the U.S. without legal status that are not also offered to U.S. citizens. In the filing, they also argue that Kentucky statutes don’t explicitly require tuition be granted to undocumented immigrants — and that federal laws would preempt them if they did.
The Kentucky statute governing tuition pricing defines the Kentucky residency requirements for in-state tuition as simply a student beginning his or her last year in high school, assuming the student begins their postsecondary education within two years of graduating. There is no mention of immigration status.
In-state undergraduate tuition is a significant boon to making college more affordable; at the University of Kentucky, for example, in-state tuition knocked off $20,638 from tuition fees in the 2024-25 school year.
Kentucky Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman expressed “serious concern” that the in-state residency policy may violate federal law.
“Preserving in-state tuition for our citizens at the commonwealth’s premier public universities is important to fostering Kentuckians’ potential and encouraging a vibrant state economy,” Coleman said in a statement. “Our Office will support the Trump Administration’s efforts to uphold federal law in Kentucky.”
In a statement, GOP state Rep. TJ Roberts from Burlington applauded the lawsuit, calling the regulation “unconstitutional discrimination against U.S. citizens.” Roberts said the state administration should have chosen to change course after he filed legislation earlier this year to remove in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, require the Council on Postsecondary Education to collect immigration data from colleges and report it to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and stopping colleges from enacting “any sanctuary policy.” The bill did not receive a committee hearing.
“Unfortunately, the governor has chosen to ignore those opportunities and instead continues to defy the Constitution, manipulate the regulatory process to advance his own agenda, and misuse the powers of his office to elevate his national political ambitions. It’s a shameful disservice to the people of Kentucky,” Roberts said.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
