News
By Betsy Graves
|
March 17, 2008
For most high school students, the opportunity to attend a university in their home state at a discounted price is a given; however, for the children of illegal immigrants in the commonwealth of Virginia, it is not a guarantee.
Although these students live in-state, they are required to pay out-of-state tuition rates because of their parents' illegal domicile status, said Andrea Leeds Armstrong, University director of Virginia status.
"The Code of Virginia, which governs the determination of eligibility for in-state privileges, indicates that an applicant under the age of 24 is assumed to be financially dependent on his or her parents and is statutorily presumed to share his or her parents' domicile status," Armstrong said.
If a student's parents are undocumented or illegal immigrants living in Virginia, she said, in the eyes of the law, the student is also considered not to be a legal Virginia resident.