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MALDEF SEEKS TO INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF STUDENTS TO DEFEND KANSAS TUITION POLICY

Jul 2, 2026 | Court Cases Education , News Releases , Tuition KANSAS CITY, KS — A Latino civil rights organization filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit seeking to eliminate regular tuition for students without lawful immigration status in Kansas, according to papers filed in federal court Wednesday. MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund), with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas (ACLU of Kansas), filed the request on behalf of Kansas Students for Affordable Tuition (KanSAT), an association of college students without lawful immigration status who rely on Kansas’ tuition policy to afford higher education. Since 2004, Kansas law has allowed certain students without lawful immigration status who attended and graduated from Kansas high schools and met other requirements to qualify for regular tuition rates at public colleges and universities. “The state of Kansas decided not to repeal the challenged state tuition-equity law earlier this year,” said Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF president and general counsel. “This attempt to circumvent that democratic process through the state attorney general colluding with the Trump administration in a federal lawsuit is improper and abusive.” At issue is a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice challenging Kansas’ tuition law, alleging that the statute violates federal law by allowing certain undocumented students living in Kansas to access regular tuition rates while denying those same benefits to U.S. citizens residing outside the state. The same day the lawsuit was filed, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach joined the federal government in asking the court to invalidate the law. “The federal government continues to pressure states to punish students for pursuing higher education in the only state many of them have ever called home,” said MALDEF staff attorney Fernando Nuñez. “The Kansas Attorney General’s decision to help the federal government in those efforts rather than defend the state law not only abandons our clients but undermines the state’s own investment in their talent and their future contributions to its workforce and economy.” Attorneys argue that KanSAT’s members pursued higher education in Kansas in reliance on a decades-long promise that they would qualify for regular tuition rates. If those guarantees are eliminated, students could face thousands of dollars in unexpected tuition costs each semester, threatening their ability to complete their degrees. Many come from low-income families and are ineligible for federal financial aid, leaving them with few options to absorb the sudden financial burden. Some may be forced to take on significant debt, delay graduation, or withdraw from school altogether. For more than two decades, Kansas’ tuition policy operated without challenge from administrations of either political party, as did similar laws across the country.