R.I. education board OK’s in-state tuition for undocumented students

The board, 11 of whose 13 members were present, voted unanimously for the measure at the end of the meeting at the Warwick campus of the Community College of Rhode Island.

Board member Eva Mancuso, chairwoman of the committee that gave the preliminary green light to the policy change, said just before the vote that the issue had been studied extensively. She called in-state tuition for illegal immigrants fair and logical.

Under the new policy, in-state rates will be available only to illegal immigrants’ children who have attended a high school in the state for at least three years and graduated or received an equivalent degree. They also have to commit to seek legal status as soon as they are eligible; they will lose the resident tuition if they do not, under an amendment adopted last night. The new policy takes effect in 2012.

In-state undergraduate tuition at the University of Rhode Island is $9,824, compared to $25,912 for out-of-state students. The state has two other public higher education institutions: the Community College of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.

The General Assembly did not act on a bill this year that would have granted the children of illegal immigrants in-state tuition, legislation that has been introduced every year for years.

Governor Lincoln Chafee threw his support behind the measure Sunday, saying it would improve the state’s “intellectual and cultural life’’ and allow more Rhode Islanders to attend college. In addition, those developments would make for a stronger workforce and would boost the state’s flagging economy, he said.

Several speakers yesterday raised objections to the board taking any action, with some calling the meeting a sham and saying its unelected members would be circumventing the Legislature if they changed policy. No other state that has approved in-state tuition for illegal immigrants did so outside a legislative act.

Other foes said offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants would reward illegal behavior.

Terry Gorman, executive director of Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement, said that the policy change would be akin to “aiding and abetting’’ illegal immigrants.