Update On The In-State Tuition Final Order And Status of Tuition Payments

On Friday, January 6, 2017, the Board of Regents filed an appeal to the Court of Appeals (under a new law change that directs Mandamus appeals (like this one) to the Court of Appeals instead of the Supreme Court (as of January 1, 2017).  This appeal does NOT stay the judge’s Final Order compelling the Board of Regents to permit DACA recipients to pay in-state tuition.

Also on Friday, January 6, 2017, the Board of Regents filed a “Application for Supersedeas,” which means they acknowledge their is no automatic stay and they are asking the Court to put the Final Order on hold during the time the appeal is pending (which will take months). Within three hours of receiving it, I have filed an Opposition and Response to that Application, but as many of you know, the Court’s are now closed because of the winter storm.  I expect, however, that the judge will rule on the Application, either granting it or denying it, on either Monday or Tuesday.

If the judge does not rule on the Application on Monday, or if she denies the Board of Regents Application, then on Tuesday the state MUST except in-state tuition payments for qualified DACA students, and, of course, return any monies already overpaid for out-of-state tuition when in-state tuition should have been paid.  If the judge grants the Board of Regents Application, all DACA students will have pay out-of-state tuition until the appeals process completes (or if DACA is ended by President Trump).

So for this weekend, let’s all put our good thoughts toward a positive outcome on this case for our students.  Education should not be inaccessible.  We are doing what we can to make sure it is not.