59 illegal students got tuition break

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) – Rhode Island education officials say 59 students who immigrated illegally to the United States are paying in-state tuition at the state’s public colleges.

The Providence Journal reports that the Office of Higher Education says no new students are applying for the spring semester.

Applications by 32 students were denied for various reasons, including missing documentation, incomplete information and failing to be enrolled at a Rhode Island high school for at least three years.

About 45,000 students attend Rhode Island’s public colleges.

If the students paid out-of-state tuition, they would have been charged $261,452, instead of a total of $92,764 in in-state tuition that they paid for the semester.

Rhode Island became the 13 ^th state in September 2011 to allow in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at public colleges.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in November of this year ordered state colleges and universities to do the same.