Federal funding cutoff for colleges offering undocumented students in-state tuition
H.R. 2374 — American Students First Act · Filed by Nancy Mace (R-SC) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends federal law to penalize public colleges and universities by cutting off all federal funding if they charge undocumented immigrants in-state tuition rates or provide them state-based financial aid. The penalty applies to the entire institution for the fiscal year following any year the Secretary of Education determines the school violated these rules.
Why we flagged it
The bill uses federal education funding as a lever to enforce immigration policy, conditioning aid on institutional compliance with tuition and financial-aid restrictions targeting undocumented students. It is functionally an immigration enforcement mechanism dressed as education policy.
What the text implies
- Institutions may face pressure to verify immigration status of all students seeking in-state tuition or aid, raising privacy and administrative burden concerns.
- The all-or-nothing funding penalty (loss of ALL federal assistance) is disproportionate to the triggering conduct and may harm documented students and legitimate programs at affected schools.
- States with in-state tuition policies for undocumented residents (CA, NY, TX, IL, others) face institutional pressure to reverse those policies or lose federal funding, effectively federalizing state tuition decisions.
- Colleges may respond by eliminating in-state tuition categories or state aid programs entirely rather than risk federal funding loss, reducing access for all students.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill restricts public colleges' ability to offer affordable tuition and financial aid to undocumented students, raising barriers to higher education for that population. It also threatens federal funding to entire institutions—potentially harming documented students, faculty, and programs at schools that offer such benefits—creating a chilling effect on institutional autonomy and access policies.
Named in the bill
Public institutions of higher education, Secretary of Education, Undocumented immigrants / aliens not lawfully present, State governments, Section 505 of IIRIRA (1996), Higher Education Act of 1965, Title 31 USC section 7501(a)(5)
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 3 Republicans.
- Mar 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Mar 26, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,584 characters) on Sep 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal funding cutoff for colleges offering undocumented students in-state tuition” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr2374 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.