State Dream Acts: The Effect of In-State Resident Tuition Policies and Undocumented Latino Students

This study examines the effect of in-state resident tuition legislation across the United States on the college enrollment odds of individuals likely to be undocumented Latino immigrants. The study employs a differences-indifferences strategy using data from the Current Population Survey's Merged Outgoing Rotation Groups. Foreign-born noncitizen Latinos living in states with a tuition policy were 1.54 times more likely to have enrolled in college after the policy's implementation than similar students in states without such legislation. Results are particular to Latino foreign-born noncitizens and not other minority groups with U.S. citizenship, including U.S.-born and naturalized Latinos.