Around New England

Maura Healey Touts In-State Tuition, Financial Aid, and Driver’s Licenses For Illegal Immigrants In Massachusetts

January 9, 2024

In-state tuition rates and financial aid are available for illegal immigrants attending public colleges in Massachusetts, and it’s something the state should be proud of, Governor Maura Healey said.

She also praised providing driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants, which became legal in Massachusetts on July 1, 2023.

Healey, who appeared on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio on Tuesday, described who were students born in other countries whose parents brought them to Massachusetts illegally when they were little.

Healey said:

And they’ve done everything right, but when they get to, you know, graduate from high school, they find out, “Wow, I’m not treated like my friends. I can’t qualify for in-state tuition. I can’t get a driver’s license. You know, I can’t get financial aid or scholarships to come through the state.”

We just changed all that in the state. We should be proud of that. We now have driver’s licenses for folks who are undocumented, who are contributing in so many different ways to our commonwealth. We now have in-state tuition available to residents, students who are undocumented. And we also now have financial aid through the state available to all students — O.K.? — who are documented, who are undocumented. This is good. Don’t we want everybody who is living here, we want to invest in them. So they become part of our workforce and our economy and we’re able to further their opportunities. So I’m really pumped about this.

In-state tuition for illegal immigrants at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts became legal in the state budget bill that Healey signed into law last year.

Healey made the comments Tuesday, January 9. The topic came up at 40:16 of the audio recording of the interview.

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