State group backs immigrants' tuition rates

This report shows that the Massachusetts economy will benefit when immigrants who received their high school education in the state get a college education at in-state tuition rates. DP

By ERIK ARVIDSON, Sun Statehouse Bureau

Lowell Sun Online: BOSTON -- Allowing undocumented immigrants to attend public colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates would bring in millions of dollars in revenue within four years, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation concluded in a report.

The foundation estimates that by 2009, there would be about 600 undocumented immigrants attending state and community colleges and the university system, just a "tiny fraction" of the 160,000-student enrollment.

Michael Widmer, president of the MTF, said the report counters the argument posed by some that allowing undocumented immigrants to attend the colleges at reduced rates would become a financial burden to the state.

"The numbers of immigrants are so small, that it's smaller than the swings that state colleges and the university system get year to year anyway," Widmer said.

The report doesn't tackle the moral or ethical questions raised by those who oppose legislation to allow undocumented immigrant students to get the in-state rates.

However, Widmer said that with Massachusetts continuing to lose population, especially in the career-oriented age group of 25 to 34, immigrants are becoming a much more important part of the state's labor force.

"This is the future of the Massachusetts economy, and the more education people receive, the more earning power they have and the more taxes they pay," Widmer said.

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